Embrace Easter
Bring the world’s traditions to your bubble
You might not be going anywhere this Easter but you can still have an eggs-otic break. The cities that arguably do the holiday best all have traditions (and recipes) that can be tried out at home.
With a little imagination and potentially a little help from virtual reality, and music and performances online, it’s not as hard as you might think to celebrate Jerusalem, New Orleans, Antigua, Seville, or Bali-style, in your own home.
Think of it as a try-before-you-buy approach: If all goes well, you can think about forking out for the real deal when it’s safe to travel again. It has to beat sitting around all day in your pyjamas scoffing hot cross buns and chocolate eggs.
Jerusalem
We’re not going to pretend you can recreate the Holy Grail of Easter destinations at home, but you don’t have to. Jerusalem will come to you.
This April, Easter, Passover and Ramadan coincide for the first time in nearly two decades, an event (VR) that had been expected to draw some 400,000 tourists to the city holy to Christians, Jews and Muslims alike.
The Tower of David museum collaborated with virtual reality production houses to create an immersive augmented reality experience designed to help them prepare for their arrival. With nonresidents now banned from the Old City, the museum is set to put VR tours online for free from April 9. And, unlike in real life, you get to see the city as it is now and as it was 2000 years ago.
‘‘We thought about the people from all over the world who won’t be able to come here this year, and how we can bring the spirit of Jerusalem to them,’’ museum director Eilat Lieber told The New
York Times. ‘‘This year, all the festivals are cancelled, but we can still show the beauty of Jerusalem to the world.’’
Tours include documentary footage of some of Jerusalem’s most important ceremonies, including the Holy Fire Easter celebrations at the Holy Sepulchre, said to contain Christ’s tomb; Passover blessings at the Western Wall; and Ramadan prayer at Al-Aqsa Mosque.
‘‘Those looking for hope in these uneasy times
. . . might find a little bit of hope when becoming immersed in the holy city of Jerusalem,’’ Lieber told CBN News, adding that the city has ‘‘given hope and inspiration for centuries’’.
New Orleans
The ‘‘Big Easy’’ knows how to party hard, and Easter marks the start of a festival season that continues through to the dog days of summer.
Although really, eating, drinking and making merry are priorities in New Orleans (aka NOLA) year-round. And you can certainly follow suit in that respect.
The city’s three big Easter Sunday parades are among many opportunities the city affords to play dress-up: as a posh lady in a pretty frock or suited dandy at the Historic French Quarter Parade, in anything outlandish at the Chris Owens Parade (Owens herself, now in her 80s, dons a different tailor-made tight-fitting outfit each year), or in rainbow colours (or perhaps leathers and an Easter bonnet) at the Gay Easter Parade.
Dressing up is a guaranteed mood booster (and laugh), so set yourselves – and the kids – the task of coming up with an over-the-top outfit.
The French Quarter Parade sees revellers compete for the titles of ‘‘best Easter bonnet’’, ‘‘best
Easter basket’’ and ‘‘best overall Easter attire’’, so you may as well have a go at this, too. Nominate a judge from your bubble or let social media decide.
Make sure you pump up the jam while you’re at it. New Orleans is the hometown of jazz so that would be appropriate but, as jazz has influenced many forms of popular music – from blues and rock to hip-hop – you can pretty much blast what you like.
To better recreate the atmosphere of one of the city’s legendary bars in your living room, stream virtual gigs by New Orleans musicians. Local radio station WWOZ Livewire has links to a long list of such gigs on its website.
New Orleans claims to have invented brunch, so it’s no surprise they’re a big deal on Easter Sunday.
Dishes on local brunch menus include french toast with southern pecan sauce, shrimp etouffee, jambalaya, gumbo, shrimp and grits, bananas foster, and white chocolate bread pudding.
Google them and let the Creole and Cajuninspired cooking begin.
Antigua, Guatemala
If you’re into arts and crafts, celebrating Guatemalan style could be a goer.
In the weeks leading up to Antigua’s Semana Santa (Holy Week) celebrations, which see more than half a million pilgrims descend on the city of some 46,000, residents cover the Spanish colonial building-lined streets with colourful alfombras (carpets) made from flowers, leaves, sand, sawdust, and pine needles arranged in intricate patterns.
Arts and crafts can help relax the fear centre of your brain, reaping many of the same benefits as meditation, so have a go at creating an alfombra in your backyard. Collect suitable materials from the garden or on your daily stroll (you might need to remind the kids not to raid the neighbours’ gardens), and create as big a mosaic as possible.
Semana Santa is also marked by colourful parades, which see purple-robed penitents carry religious sculptures, weighing up to several tonnes, to the sombre beat of the marching band.
That’s harder to recreate at home but there is loads of Guatemalan music online. Spotify’s Music of Guatemala playlists are well worth checking out for traditional tunes, while Doctor Nativo, whose performances are available on his website and YouTube, combines Guatemalan folk music with Afro-Caribbean cumbia reggae and Mayanlanguage
rap. And somehow he makes it work.
Magda Angelica, whose Mayan and Mexican spirituality-inspired lyrics overlay electronic and pre-Hispanic sounds, is among the other Guatemalan artists on worldmusiccentral.org.
Try putting on some tunes, making sculptures out of paper mache or whatever else you have at hand, and putting on a parade of your own. Who knows, if it’s good (or ridiculous) enough, you might just be the next stars of YouTube.
Seville, Spain
Dressing up like the nazarenos who star in the southern Spanish city’s famous Semana Santa
(Holy Week) celebrations might upset your neighbours – their long white robes and conical hats inspired the Klu Klux Clan – but that doesn’t mean you can’t embrace the overall spirit.
The focus of the seven-day celebrations, an elaborate commemoration of the last week of Christ’s life, is on religion and family, so are ideal for those who hate the commercialism of Easter in many other countries.
From Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday, elaborate floats representing scenes from the Passion of the Christ are carried through cobblestone streets to the Unesco-listed cathedral, accompanied by marching penitents and members of more than 50 church brother- and sisterhoods. Bands practise their flamenco-infused hymns for months beforehand, adding to the theatricality.
While an occasion of intense religious devotion for many, Semana Santa is also a giant, which sees entire families, from grannies to babies, pack out bars until 3am to 4am.
You could stage your own parade if you feel so inclined. Or simply light some candles (ideally orange blossom-scented), burn some incense, and reflect on the true meaning of Easter and why you’re grateful to be able to spend the day together before getting your private party started. Livestreaming a church service from Seville is another option.
Whatever you do, you must make torrijas for breakfast. Similar to french toast, these traditional Easter treats see bread dipped in a milk and egg mixture, fried, sprinkled in sugar and drenched in honey. Some have a burnt sugar layer on top, similar to a creme brulee.
Other Spanish Easter delicacies include pestinos (sweet, deep-fried fritters flavoured with star anise and orange), doughnut-like buenelos and Easter cakes (bread rings with whole eggs baked into the top, sometimes sprinkled with candied fruit or chocolate eggs).
Canggu, Bali
Bali has become a popular destination for those looking to get in touch with their non-denominational spiritual side over Easter – or to bliss out.
You’ll have to do without the tropical temperatures and resort-like surrounds this year (unless you live in a well-heated resort-like home), but you can still attend a Balinese retreat. Online.
Janine Hall, the Kiwi founder of Escape Haven in Canggu, has launched what she believes to be the world’s first virtual retreat.
The six-week programme includes yoga, meditation, workouts, workshops on nutrition, goal-setting and ayurveda, and cooking classes led by the retreat’s head holistic chef.
The first week of the course, which costs US$497 (NZ$840), is free, and subscribers have lifetime access to materials.
‘‘At a time when people are experiencing higher levels of anxiety and may be feeling a loss of freedom, we wanted to reach out and gift people with one free week on our virtual retreat, as we believe we have a responsibility to raise everyone’s wellbeing, now more than ever,’’ Hall says.
No doubt, it’ll make you feel much better than a tummy full of chocolate eggs.