Easter in the United States: Traditions, Customs, and How the Holiday Is Celebrated

Easter in the United States blends Christian religious roots, the cultural heritage of European immigrants, and a commercial appeal that drives American retail every year. For those going through the immigration process or already living in the U.S., understanding how the holiday works is part of adapting to the country’s social calendar. Unlike Brazil, where Good Friday is the focal point and chocolate eggs dominate consumption, the American celebration spans several days, with Easter Sunday as the highlight and its own traditions worth knowing.

Official Status of Easter Holidays in the U.S.

Good Friday is not a national holiday in the United States. Only a handful of states recognize it as an official state holiday, including Connecticut, Indiana, New Jersey, Tennessee, Hawaii, and North Dakota. Elsewhere, schools and public agencies may or may not operate depending on local policy, and private businesses run as usual.

Easter Sunday is also not a federal holiday — because federal holidays in the U.S. are defined by day of the week or a fixed date, and Easter always falls on a Sunday, a day that is already off for most public services. Easter Monday, common in countries like the United Kingdom and Canada, has no official recognition in the U.S.

Religious Significance and American Services

In the Christian tradition, Easter marks the resurrection of Jesus Christ and concludes Holy Week. Catholic, Protestant, and Orthodox churches hold distinct programs, but there are common elements that stand out culturally.

Sunrise Service

The Sunrise Service is a worship service held at dawn on Easter Sunday, often outdoors in parks, natural amphitheaters, or cemeteries. It symbolizes the women’s arrival at the empty tomb in the early morning hours. The Easter Sunrise Service at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, and the event at Mount Rubidoux in California, have drawn thousands of worshippers for decades.

Easter Vigil and Community Services

Catholic communities hold the Easter Vigil on Saturday night, with the blessing of the Paschal candle and scripture readings. Evangelical Protestant churches often stage Passion plays and special services throughout Holy Week. Some congregations organize community Easter brunches open to the public on Sunday after the main service.

Easter Egg Hunt and Children’s Traditions

The Easter Egg Hunt is probably the tradition most closely associated with the American holiday. Children search for colorful eggs — typically plastic ones filled with candy, miniature toys, or small notes — hidden in backyards, parks, and community centers.

The most famous event is the White House Easter Egg Roll, held on the South Lawn of the White House since 1878. Children push dyed hard-boiled eggs with long-handled spoons, referencing a Victorian-era tradition. The event draws tens of thousands of visitors annually and is one of the few occasions when the general public can access part of the presidential grounds.

Egg Decorating

Unlike Brazil, where chocolate eggs dominate the market, in the U.S. it is common to decorate hard-boiled eggs with paint, stickers, and dye kits (egg dye kits). The tradition comes from German and Ukrainian immigrants, who brought techniques such as Ukrainian pysanky — layered wax painting. Families prepare the eggs on Saturday and use them in Sunday’s hunt or as table decorations.

The American Easter Menu

The Easter Sunday meal, often called Easter brunch or Easter dinner, follows its own set of recipes quite distinct from the Brazilian table centered on salted cod.

• Easter Ham (baked ham): the most widely consumed dish. Usually a cured ham glazed with a mixture of brown sugar, honey, mustard, and spices, sometimes topped with pineapple slices.
• Roasted lamb: more common in families of Italian, Greek, or Eastern European origin. Classic seasoning includes rosemary, garlic, and mint.
• Hot Cross Buns: British sweet rolls with raisins and spices, marked with a cross on top. Traditionally eaten on Good Friday.
• Sweet Easter bread: braided sweet bread of Italian origin (panettone-like), often with colored hard-boiled eggs baked into the dough.
• Simnel cake: a British fruit cake with layers of marzipan and eleven balls on top representing the apostles, popular in New England.
• Deviled eggs: hard-boiled eggs halved with yolks mixed with mayonnaise, mustard, and paprika. A ubiquitous appetizer at any American gathering, not just Easter.
• Carrot cake: American carrot cake with cream cheese frosting, a classic dessert choice.
• Sides: mashed potatoes, scalloped potatoes, green beans with almonds, grilled asparagus, and dinner rolls.

Chocolate is still present, but in a different form. The commercial favorites are hollow chocolate bunnies, jelly beans in assorted flavors, and Peeps — marshmallows shaped like chicks and bunnies, an American Easter cultural icon. Decorated baskets filled with synthetic grass and an assortment of candies (Easter baskets) replace the giant Brazilian chocolate eggs.

Easter’s Commercial Weight

Easter ranks among the largest retail holidays in the U.S. The National Retail Federation estimates annual spending in the tens of billions of dollars, spread across food, candy, decorations, new clothing, cards, and gifts. Major chains like Walmart, Target, and Kroger set up themed aisles weeks in advance, and regional supermarkets launch exclusive lines of hams and pies.

New clothes for Easter Sunday are a tradition in Christian communities in the South and Midwest, perpetuating the custom of Easter parades — informal fashion processions after church. Fifth Avenue in New York has maintained an unofficial Easter Parade since the 19th century, immortalized in the 1948 film of the same name.

Easter in Popular Culture

Easter appears in iconic series such as Friends, The Office, and Modern Family, typically in comic episodes centered on family rivalries or the clumsy figure of the Easter Bunny. In film, animated features like Hop (2011) and Peter Rabbit (2018) built entire narratives around the rabbit. The song Sunday Bloody Sunday by U2 references Easter Sunday in a different political context.

Corpus Christi Does Not Exist in the American Calendar

Those coming from Brazil are often surprised by the absence of Corpus Christi in the U.S. The date is observed only within Catholic parishes, with no holiday status or impact on the school or commercial calendar. The same applies to many other traditionally Catholic holidays in Brazil — most pass silently in the United States due to the country’s religious diversity and its predominantly Protestant heritage.

How to Make the Most of Easter While Living in the U.S.

For newly arrived immigrants, Easter is one of the best opportunities for community integration. Local churches typically organize egg hunts open to neighborhood families, public schools run activities in the days leading up to it, and city parks host free events. Even without a religious affiliation, joining an Easter brunch at a local restaurant, decorating eggs with the kids, or simply observing how neighbors celebrate the holiday offers valuable cultural insight.

The American calendar is more diffuse when it comes to religious dates than Brazil’s, but it makes up for it with highly codified traditions around specific holidays. Easter, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas function as cultural rites of passage — the sooner an immigrant begins to participate, the faster and more natural the integration into local community life becomes.

Victoria Harper

Editor-in-Chief

Meet the author

Leading journalism and editorial content at Visto n’ Visa, Victoria helps make immigration topics clear, trustworthy, and easy to understand. Her focus is on delivering useful, human, and relevant content for people exploring new paths abroad.