Easter
Description:
In addition to religious celebrations in major cities on the Easter weekend there are huge fairs, which attract people from all over the country. Australia’s largest annual fair, the Royal Easter Show, takes place in Sydney at this time. Originally an agricultural exhibition, the Sydney Royal Easter Show celebrates everything from Australia’s unshakable historical values to the mobility of urban life.
Australian Easter is a four-day holiday that begins on Good Friday and ends on Monday. Such a long weekend is a great opportunity to arrange a mini-vacation or gather with family and friends. Easter usually coincides with school holidays, so often families with school-age children turn Easter into a long family holiday. Easter is the busiest time for domestic airlines and is also a very popular time for big family events like christenings or weddings.
For the holiday, parents necessarily buy children Easter Show Pack - a package with several toys, a set of pencils, a notebook, a postcard, etc., and all this with the image of some cartoon character. And also a lot of sweets. In Australia, as elsewhere in the world, Easter eggs are very popular – chocolate or sugar. But the symbol of this holiday is not the traditional Easter rabbit, but the local animal bilby. First of all, because the rabbit destroys the crops of farmers, tears up the land and destroys its small inhabitants. Australians value their flora and fauna.
No one remembers exactly where the Easter bilby tradition came from. Apparently, it goes back to the 70s, when the children's writer Rose-Marie Dusting published the book "Australian Easter bilby". She was nicknamed Lady Bilby and is credited with creating the new Australian Easter symbol.
Be that as it may, bilbys are no less popular today than the old symbols of Australia – kangaroos and koalas. Today, these little animals have their own protection society - the Australian Bilby Appreciation Society - and thousands of fans across the country. Australian environmental organizations urge: buying a couple of chocolate bilby instead of a traditional rabbit, you will not only get a great treat, but also support the native nature. All proceeds from the sale of chocolates go to the research and protection of these mammals, the number of which in nature in recent years has sharply decreased.
On Easter Monday morning, Australians have breakfast with sweet hot buns, the so-called Hot Cross Bun. Easter Monday is an official holiday in Australia, so many of its citizens can safely go to church.