Has Easter become a commercialised long weekend?
In South Africa, there are also frequently Easter parades, egg hunts, egg-decorating workshops, and grand Easter feasts with native dishes.
Easter has long been celebrated in South Africa as a distinctively Christian holiday.
The News visited Public Holiday Global’s website (https://publicholidays.net.za) to read their thoughts on why this particular holiday has become a commercialised long weekend, despite its religious connotation, and discovered that, despite three-quarters or more of South Africa’s 55 million people identifying themselves as Christian, secularisation and commercialisation of the holiday has begun to set in.
As in most other countries where Easter is celebrated, it falls in late March to mid-April. It commemorates the resurrection of Jesus Christ, and involves Easter bunnies and chocolate eggs.
In South Africa, there are also frequently Easter parades, egg hunts, egg-decorating workshops, and grand Easter feasts with native dishes. Local organisations will hold Easter events for kids, and families will spend much of the day out and about, while relaxing at home the rest of the time.
At churches of all denominations, there will often be prayer services and other special events for a full week, starting on Easter Sunday. On Easter Sunday itself, the services sometimes last all day long, though there are ‘breaks’ and dinners involved as well.
Easter Monday has long been a day to relax and recover from the hustle and bustle of Easter Day, but in 1995, it was renamed by the government to ‘Family Day’ to encourage people of all belief systems to participate in festivities held on the day after Easter.
South Africa has many special Easter dishes, including hot cross buns and pickled fish. Both of these dishes are especially common in the area around Cape Town. Hot cross buns derive from a British Easter tradition brought over by early Cape Province settlers. The pickled fish, however, is a Muslim Malay tradition.
The Dutch, who originally settled in Cape Town, brought Malay and Indian slaves who introduced the dish, which is very spicy and has a sweet and sour flavour. Why did a Muslim food become popular on Easter? The factors that led to this include the abundance of fish off the shores of Cape Town, the fact that a single batch of pickled fish will stay good throughout the Easter Weekend, and the Catholic tradition of eating fish but not red meat at this time of year.
The website lists two ideas for what to do in South Africa at Easter:
• In Johannesburg, at the Killarney Mall, you may wish to treat your kids to the locally famous Easter Village. There will be candy to find, a visit from the ‘real’ Easter bunny, and plenty of other fun events. The adults can probably squeeze in a little shopping time as well.
• One of the best Easter events in Joburg is the Rand Show, which has fun events for the whole family. It is one of the largest Easter shows in the world and attracts hundreds of thousands to its kids’ activities, Food Theatre, “Man Cave,” science and tech lab, helicopter rides, and more.
The highways of South Africa will be extremely busy before and after the Easter weekend, so it is wise to plan your transportation well in advance.
Airports will also be packed, so you should book flights in and out well ahead of time as well.
To read more on other public holidays, visit https://publicholidays.net.za.
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