Like Christmas, Easter in the United States is celebrated in both religious and secular ways. In many communities, the Christian aspect of the holiday—honored by Passion Plays and church services—is combined with visits from the Easter Bunny, parades, and hunting for candy-filled eggs.

When Is Easter?
The exact date of Easter is dependent on the lunar calendar. It falls on the first Sunday after the full moon that follows the vernal equinox, which places it sometime between late March and mid-April each year.

Religious Services
Easter is one of the most important dates on the Christian calendar, so you can expect nearly every church in the country to be holding special services throughout Holy Week. Catholic churches typically offer the widest range of celebrations, traditionally starting on Palm Sunday (the Sunday before Easter) and holding services on Good Friday and Easter Sunday.

Is Easter Sunday a Public Holiday?
Easter Sunday is not a public holiday. It falls on vasárnap, 2020. április 12. and most businesses follow regular vasárnap opening hours in the United States.


What Do People Do?
Many churches hold special services on Easter Sunday, which celebrate the Jesus Christ's resurrection after his crucifixion. Many people also decorate eggs. These can be hard boiled eggs that can be eaten later, but may also be model eggs made of plastic, chocolate, candy or other materials. It is also common to organize Easter egg hunts. Eggs of some form are hidden, supposedly by a rabbit or hare. People, especially children, then search for them. In some areas, Easter egg hunts are a popular way for local businesses to promote themselves or may even be organized by churches.

Public Life
Easter Sunday is not a federal holiday but a number of stores are closed in many parts of the US and if they are open, they may have limited trading hours. In some cities, public transit systems usually run their regular Sunday schedule, but it is best to check with the local transport authorities if any changes will be implemented during Easter Sunday.

Easter Monday is the day after Easter Sunday. It is not a federal holiday in the United States of America (USA). Some Easter traditions continue on the Easter Monday, such as the egg rolling race at the White House.
Easter Monday is not a public holiday. Businesses have normal opening hours.

What Do People Do?
Egg rolling races are held in the United States. There is a big race held on the lawn of the White House in Washington DC on Easter Monday. Sometimes even the President takes part in the “White House Easter Egg Roll”, which was hosted by the First Lady in 2007. Eggs are rolled down a hill or slope and there is a variety of activities, as well as food and entertainment, for families.

The White House Easter egg collection involves a tradition that began in 1994 where each state sends a decorated egg to the White House for display. Artists from across the United States created decorated eggs that represent each state and the District of Columbia. Each year the artists vote amongst themselves to select the artist to create the following year's commemorative egg which is presented to the President and First Lady. The collection is coordinated by the American Egg Board.

Public Life
Easter Monday is not a federal holiday. Most aspects of public life are not any different to any other Monday. Public transit systems usually run their regular Monday schedule in many parts of the United States.

Though not largely observed in the United States, the day remains informally observed in some areas such as the state of North Dakota, where there is no school on Easter Monday, and some cities. Easter Monday was a public holiday in North Carolina from 1935 to 1987. Traditionally Polish-influenced areas such as Chicago observe Dyngus Day as well.

Background
The Easter date depends on the ecclesiastical approximation of the March equinox.
In Pagan times, many groups of people organized spring festivals. Many of these celebrated the re-birth of nature, the return the land to fertility and the birth of many young animals. These are the origins of the Easter eggs that we still hunt for and eat.

Easter, Húsvét in Hungarian, is important to Hungary’s cultural and Christian heritage, steeped in tradition and abundant in delicious food. Good Friday and Easter Sunday and Monday are all marked as public holidays, celebrated with much fun, food and strange rituals.

Locsolkodás
On Easter Monday, the tradition known as locsolkodás involves menfolk reciting a poem to ladies and then sprinkling them with perfume. In extreme cases, the same effect can be achieved with a bucket of cold water. Traditionally, only young women of marriageable age would be the victims, but this custom (linked to earlier pagan fertility rituals) has since expanded to ladies of all ages – even relatives or colleagues. In olden days, this gesture was a form of courtship, and young ladies would be delighted to be sprinkled by many potential suitors, but nowadays, it's something fun and goofy to do, leaving women smelling of various cheap perfume by day's end.

While it doesn't quite seem like a fair trade, in return for each sprinkling, the ladies give the men chocolate Easter eggs, specially decorated painted eggs, homemade cakes and one too many shots of pálinka (a potent Hungarian fruit brandy). So, on Easter Monday in Hungary, the menfolk go from house to house visiting family, friends and sometimes colleagues spritzing a little Eau de Cologne on ladies’ hair, receiving drinks and treats along the way.

Painted eggs

Painted eggs are a prominent part of Easter in Hungary. Within the Christian tradition, eggs were painted red (to symbolise the blood of Jesus), but in recent centuries, this has changed to eggs being dyed many varied colours. The flower motifs that are often incorporated in the decoration reflect the embroidery found on Hungarian heritage folk costumes.
An elaborate technique is employed for the decoration: wax is used to draw the design on the egg, which is then dyed and it is slightly warmed so the wax melts off, leaving the white pattern on the otherwise coloured egg. Before the whole process, the eggs are either hard-boiled or the contents of the egg are blown out of the shell via a small pinhole at the top and bottom so that the decorative items last without the egg rotting within.

An alternative method is to dye the eggs a deeper brown by placing them in water coloured by onion skins. Then the pattern is scratched into the surface with a needle.


Easter Bunny
In modern Hungary, the Easter Bunny brings chocolate eggs for young kids before hiding them around the house or garden, only to be found after an extensive egg hunt. This usually takes place on Easter Sunday or Easter Monday morning.Greetings
So how do you say Happy Easter in Hungarian? It's kellemes húsvéti ünnepeket! Say what!? Ok, it's pronounced: cal-lam-ash hoosh-veh-tee oon-nap-ak-at. Now you can show off!

Food
For those following Christian tradition, on Good Friday it's customary to eat fish, while on Easter Sunday it’s meat – particularly exciting if you have been fasting for Lent. Hungarians typically eat ham served with horseradish and boiled eggs on Easter Sunday, while kalács (braided milk loaf) is also served for Easter. Of course, chocolate eggs are a huge part of the celebrations although this is a more modern element.