How Easter in Poland is Celebrated | Polish Tradition

As a person that had lived in Mexico City for many years years, the Easter tradition is still something completely new for me.

Easter in Mexico is Different than in Poland

In Mexico, this week is called “Holy Week”, on Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday, the Mexican families go to the church to thank God for the sacrifice of his son to save us. During this week it is not really common to meet and spend time with our families, most of us just prefer to spend time on our own.

One difference between Mexico and Poland is that a lot of Mexican people go to the beach in these days, we lie down on the sand and we show our perfect bodies while drinking a cold beer or some tequila shots and enjoying some Mexican food (I miss those days).

Easter Celebration in Poland

I have heard from many Polish people that Easter is even more important than Christmas, and that is why we need to know at least how to celebrate Easter in this beautiful country. I’m going to explain you the most important elements of this season.

Easter Eggs and the Basket

When I came to Poland, it was the first time in my life that I decorated Easter eggs! Can you believe it? Before doing this, I thought that this was something really typical for foreign movies or cartoons, but honestly speaking I felt like a small kid with a new toy.

These eggs are decorated in the way you want, they have to be boiled (a good tip is to drill the top of the egg with a needle, and the cover of the egg will be perfectly conserved), then let your imagination to do the rest.

On Saturday Morning, these eggs are placed in a basket with some other things such as: white sausage, chrzan, mazurek wielkanocny and bread. The basket is one of the most important elements during the Easter celebration. Then, the basket is taken to the church to be blessed.

When people get back to their homes, all the food from the basket can finally be eaten, either during the breakfast on the same day, or during Sunday’s meal.

Main Polish Dishes During Easter

For all the foreigners that are reading this article: you have to be aware that during these days you are going to eat a lot, but really a lot, you will wish you have 3 stomachs to eat all the food that is offered. If you don’t eat all the food, Babcia will be upset with you and believe me… you don’t want that!

Some of the main dishes that you will find are: barszcz biały, żurek, meat, and thousands of sausages.

Delicious Desserts

Of course the desserts have to have their place in a Polish celebration, so during the meals you may find hundreds of cookies, cakes, and pies. The main ones that you will eat are: Babka, Sernik, Mazurek wielkanocny, Easter Lamb Cake and Makowiec.

Talking about Makowiec, the first time when I was reading the recipe of this cake, there was 1 ingredient that was interesting to me: poppy seed, something that might be considered as something really illegal in Mexico, because it is used to prepare some type of drug, and if some authorities notice that you have this, you might have problems.

Whatever, be prepared because I am sure you will gain around 3 or 5 kg in just one weekend.

Wet Monday

We have a similar tradition in Mexico called “Holy Saturday”, when a lot of people go out to the streets and they begin to pour water onto each other. Right now in Mexico City this is illegal because you can’t waste water in this way, so if you are in Mexico try not to celebrate this tradition too much, or you will spend some days in a Mexican jail.

On the first Monday after Easter, people here in Poland celebrate so called Śmigus-dyngus. There are a lot of water battles everywhere, so prepare balloons full of water or water’s guns, and have a lot of fun. Be ready, and if someone throws water to you, now you know the reason. And also with the crazy weather we have in Poland, it is possible that instead of a water battle, it will be a snow battle :)

Family Reunions

Finally, the most beautiful part for me during Easter in Poland is the family meeting, during these days you will see a lot of people in the public transportation or walking with huge suitcases, because they are coming back to their natal cities to have a good time and a lot of fun and food with their moms, grandmas, sisters, brothers, uncles, etc. It is incredible! Most of the big cities, such as Warsaw, will be empty because all the people is coming back with their families!

Now that you are prepared to celebrate Easter in Poland: Smacznego and Happy Easter!