35 Easter Trivia Facts That Are Completely Un-eggs-pected
Wait, how many jelly beans are produced each year?
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Easter is one of those holidays that you get excited about without even realizing. It may not have the big pull that Christmas has, but it still acts as a reason for you to gather around with your family—but this time in warmer weather! Plus, like any holiday, there are plenty of traditional recipes and desserts associated with Easter, which obviously makes our mouths water just thinking about it.
As exciting as this all is, have you ever wondered things like why Easter's date changes annually? Or where the Easter bunny even came from? If you think about it, there are a lot of questions surrounding the holiday... maybe more than you realized! That's precisely why there's this list of of fun Easter trivia facts—because the day is just full of surprises.
Reading these Easter trivia facts before the holiday might make for a good conversation starter at that Easter brunch! Or maybe, you want to start doing Easter trivia quizzes—which could be a neat addition to your annual Easter traditions. Whatever the case may be, and however you decide to use them, this Easter trivia list will definitely blow your mind. So, take a stroll through these fun tidbits, and share them with friends and family!
Have even more festive fun with these ideas:
Florida held the largest Easter egg hunt in the United States.
Talk about eggs-traodinary! The largest Easter egg hunt to ever take place in the United States happened at Cypress Gardens Adventure Park in Winter Haven, Florida on April 1, 2007. At the gigantic hunt, 9,753 children and adults searched for a whopping 501,000 eggs.
In recent years, Americans spent over $22 billion on Easter.
Between food, clothing, candy, and gifts, Easter can get expensive! In 2024, Americans planned to spend $22.4 billion on Easter, according to the National Retail Federation (NRF). As that number increases every year, it's likely to be even higher in 2025!
Instead of a bunny, an Easter fox delivers goods in Germany.
While kiddos in the U.S. know and love the Easter bunny, a different critter is beloved by little ones in Germany. Over in Westphalia, Germany, an Easter fox (Osterfuchs) once delivered eggs and goodies to children. Though the bunny is more common nowadays, the fox is still a popular symbol in some parts of the region.
Pastel colors hold religious meanings.
Pastel colors are used in so many Easter celebrations. But they have important symbolism, too! Baby blue, mint green, light yellow, and soft pink all carry meaning of the rebirth and renewal of life that occurs in spring. Specifically, white represents light, triumph, and glory, while lavender represents penance, power, and royalty. Pink represents joy and love, then red symbolizes sacrifice, blood, and martyrdom. Finally, green represents hope and eternal life.
Easter was named after the Anglo-Saxon goddess Eostre.
Do you know the history of Easter? It's thought that Eostre, a goddess celebrated during the Spring Equinox, is thought to have inspired the name Easter. She is the goddess of spring, rebirth, and fertility, and her icon is the rabbit, thanks to its ability to quickly procreate. Historians believe the Vernal Equinox festival in honor of Eostre transitioned into the Christian holiday.
An egg hunt is the most popular way to celebrate Easter.
From brunch to egg dyeing to church service, there are an abundance of exciting ways to celebrate the holiday. However, Easter egg hunts are the most beloved! A recent study shows that 83% of people participate in the fun, family activity come Easter Sunday.
Easter bonnets are a relatively new tradition.
Though dressing up in your Sunday best is an Easter custom that goes way back, bonnets are a relatively new addition to festive outfits. The big hats were popularized in 1933 when composer Irving Berlin included them in his song, "Easter Parade." The tune features lyrics about elite New Yorkers showing off their extravagant Easter outfits.
Kinder Surprise eggs are banned in the United States.
If you have a craving for chocolate eggs, there are so many candy options to choose from—but Kinder Surprise eggs are not one of them! These hollow milk chocolate eggs contain a toy held in a plastic capsule inside, but they've been illegal in America since 1938 when the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) banned consumable items with nonnutritive objects inside.
PAAS is the most popular Easter egg dyeing kit.
You can't have Easter without colorful eggs! Well, you can, but it won't be near as fun! According to a recent study, PAAS is overwhelmingly the favorite egg decorating brand amongst American families. Considering all the creative options they have available, it's no surprise! From classic color dyes to kits brimming with glitter, egg crayons, and stickers, there are so many works-of-art to be made.
Instead of Easter bunnies, Swedish kids dress up as wizards.
Plenty of Easter magic takes place in Sweden and Finland, where kids actually dress up as witches and wizards to celebrate the holiday. The Easter tradition is similar to trick-or-treating in which children dress up on Maundy Thursday or the day before Easter (Holy Saturday), then go door to door collecting candy and wishing their neighbors a "Glad Påsk." This centuries-old custom is called Påskkärring, which translates to "Easter Hags."
The lamb is an important Easter symbol.
The Easter bunny isn't the only holiday mascot around town! This more or less has to do with the Christian tradition of eating lamb to commemorate Christ's death and sacrifice all that time ago.
The red jelly bean is the most popular flavor.
Specifically, the Very Cherry flavor! In fact, it remained the most popular flavor for over two decades, facing a brief hiatus from 1998 to 2003 when buttered popcorn took over. However, Very Cherry reclaimed its fame in 2003, and has been the most popular one ever since!
In Australia, Easter takes place in Autumn.
This technically goes for all Southern regions, since those in the Southern Hemisphere experience opposite seasons from those in the Northern Hemisphere! So, while the timeframe remains the same, some people experience a fall Easter.
The largest Easter parade is held in New York.
Yep! It takes place right alongside the iconic 5th avenue, and people show up and show out in their fun Easter attire. Oh, we mean fun, because people show up in the most colorful bonnets!
Cadbury Creme Eggs originally had a different name.
Some of us cannot imagine an Easter without Cadbury eggs, so to think they were almost called something else is crazy! The filled egg was first invented in 1923, but it wasn't until 1963 when they started to be sold under the name Fry's Creme Eggs. Then, the name changed again to Cadbury Creme Eggs in 1971.
The largest chocolate egg was over 34 feet tall.
A giant chocolate Easter egg is a must-have for anyone with a sweet tooth. But a chocolate egg that's 34 feet tall, weighing almost 16,000 pounds? Well, that's just a chocolate lover's dream come true! According to the Guinness World Records, this massive chocolate candy was produced in Italy in 2011. 😋
Easter lilies signify the true meaning of the holiday.
For one, the flower's white color can represent the purity and innocence of Jesus—with white usually representing such a message. There are also parallels between the lily's blooming process and Christ's resurrection. The bulb of the flower initially growing beneath Earth's surface is attributed to Jesus' death, while the actual sprout of the flower symbolizes his resurrection.
Ham is a staple Easter recipe for a reason.
A lot of you probably couldn't imagine an Easter without ham. It makes sense, considering it's a tradition that dates back years ago. Before we had refrigerators, people would cure ham during the winter months and when the ham thawed out by springtime, it made sense to use it as an Easter meal centerpiece.
The Easter Bunny made its way to America in the 18th century.
So, there's not an actual known origin story of how the Easter Bunny came to be the fictional symbol for the holiday—but we do know that in the 1700s, Germans who immigrated to America brought the tradition of the Osterhase with them. Basically, it's a bunny who magically lays eggs.
Easter eggs are somewhat medieval.
Yes, you read that right. And it's a little strange, but here it goes. There's an old medieval kids game where a priest would give his choir of kids a hard boiled egg. They were to pass it around to each other continuously, until the clock struck midnight. Once that sound of the clock commenced, the child holding the egg had to eat it.
Macie Reynolds is the assistant editor of E-Commerce and SEO for The Pioneer Woman.
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