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Torghandel Sverige – Easter 2026

Easter is celebrated on
different days and with different food

A guide to how Easter is observed
across the major Christian traditions, and what ends up on the table. ENG

Coverage of Easter tends to focus on shopping and
travel. This article is about something else: how the holiday is actually
celebrated, by whom and with what, and why half of Europe celebrates Easter on
April 12 and not April 5.

Why different dates

The difference is calendrical. Western churches,
Catholic and Protestant, follow the Gregorian calendar. Orthodox churches
follow the Julian calendar, which today runs 13 days behind. Both calculate
Easter as the first Sunday after the first full moon following the spring
equinox, but from different starting points.

Orthodox churches also apply an additional rule: Easter
may not coincide with the Jewish Passover. The result this year: Catholic and
Protestant Easter was April 5. Orthodox Easter is April 12.

Country by country

Sweden, Denmark, Norway   Protestant (Lutheran)   April 5

In Scandinavia, Easter is more folk tradition than
religious observance for most people. Church attendance is lower than in
Catholic or Orthodox countries. The Easter holiday, Easter eggs, and the Easter
witch figure dominate the culture.

On the table: Herring, salmon, boiled potatoes,
eggs, sour cream. In Finland, mämmi, a traditional
malt pudding, marks the end of the fasting period.

Poland, Croatia, Hungary   Catholic   April
5

In Catholic countries, Easter is a central religious
holiday with blessed Easter baskets, processions, and long church services
during Holy Week. In Poland, baskets of food are carried to church for blessing
on Easter Saturday, a ritual maintained for centuries.

On the table: White sausage, ham, pork, mazurek (Polish almond cake), red-dyed eggs. The butter
lamb, baranek wielkanocny,
adorns the table as a symbol of Christ’s sacrifice.

Serbia, Bulgaria, North Macedonia   Orthodox
(Serbian/Bulgarian)   April 12

It started as an evening walk. Somewhere in Aspudden on an April night in 2024, we noticed people
coming from all directions carrying large baskets covered with embroidered
cloths, all heading the same way. We followed, thinking we would stay five
minutes and not disturb anyone.

We stayed for nearly an hour and a half.

The church was full to the last seat. Outside, people
stood holding candles, dressed as for a large family dinner. On tables outside,
the Easter baskets were lined up: kulich, eggs, ham, pastries, waiting for the
blessing that ends forty days of fasting.

Inside, a procession formed. A long trail of people with
candles moved out of the church and around the building until the head met the
tail and the circle was closed. Singing, incense, priests in white and gold.
Something was happening the whole time, and it was hard to leave.

At midnight: Христос
Васкрсе.
Christ is risen. The response from everyone around: Ваистину
Васкрсе.
Truly He is risen. The candle flame passed from hand to hand until the whole
street was lit.

When we left we were tired. You
stand the whole time. But it was a good tiredness. We carried with us a calm
that was hard to put into words, and a feeling of having witnessed something we
had not expected. It became an evening we remembered.

We had not planned to be there. It was one of the finer
things we have seen in Stockholm.

On the table: Lamb, red-dyed eggs, Easter bread.
Corba, a hearty meat soup, is often the first thing
eaten once the fast is finally broken.

Greece, Cyprus   Orthodox (Greek)   April 12

In Greece, Easter is the most important day in the
church calendar, more central than Christmas. The midnight service on Easter
Saturday is the core event: the church is darkened,
the priest lights a single candle that passes from person to person until the
whole building is filled with light. At midnight: Christos Anesti,
Christ is risen.

On the table: Spit-roasted lamb, magiritsa (soup
of lamb offal with egg-lemon sauce), red-dyed eggs, tsoureki (Easter bread).
Eggs are cracked against each other and the one whose egg survives uncracked is
said to have good luck for the year.

Romania   Orthodox (Romanian)   April 12

Romanian Easter is deeply Orthodox with strong local
traditions. Blessed Easter baskets, night-time church services and long family
gatherings. Cozonac, a soft fragrant Easter bread
with walnuts or poppy seeds, is baked in every household.

On the table: Lamb, drob
(lamb pâté), cozonac, red-dyed eggs, Easter soup.

Ukraine   Orthodox / Greek
Catholic   April 12

Easter in Ukraine is marked by pysanky, decorated eggs
with regionally specific patterns passed down through generations. The Easter
basket blessed at church has carefully defined contents. Alcohol and blood
sausage are excluded.

On the table: Paska
(Easter cake), stuffed cabbage rolls, homemade sausage, varenyky
(dumplings), kholodets (meat in aspic). The fast
breaks at midnight.

Russia   Orthodox (Russian)   April 12

In the Russian Orthodox tradition, Easter outranks
Christmas. Kulich, a tall round Easter bread, is baked and blessed at church
before being broken together at the table. Celebrations begin with the
night-time service.

On the table: Kulich, paskha
(curd cheese dessert), red-dyed eggs, cold ham, meat in aspic.

Egypt   Oriental
Orthodox (Coptic)   April 12

The Coptic Church was founded in Egypt in the 40s AD and
is one of the oldest Christian institutions in the world. The Lenten fast lasts
55 days with complete abstention from animal products, one of the longest in
all of Christianity. The Easter Vigil begins on Saturday evening and continues
until dawn.

On the table: Meat, fatteh
(flatbread with rice, meat and sauce) and homemade pastries break the fast.

Ethiopia, Eritrea   Oriental
Orthodox (Tewahedo)
April 12

Easter, known as Fasika or Tensae, is more important than Christmas. The Vigil is held
with singing and dancing until the early hours. At midnight a chicken is
slaughtered symbolically; in the morning, a lamb.

On the table: Lamb, injera (sourdough
flatbread), meat stews. The fast breaks at dawn.

Armenia   Oriental
Orthodox (Apostolic)   April 12

Armenia was the first country in the world to adopt
Christianity as a state religion, in 301 AD. The Armenian Apostolic Church
belongs to the Oriental Orthodox tradition and should not be confused with the
Armenian Catholic Church. Easter is called Zatik.

On the table: Lamb, red-dyed eggs, nazook (butter pastry with nut filling), pilaf, dolma.

Diaspora in Stockholm

The communities celebrating Orthodox Easter on April 12
are well-established in Stockholm and observe the same traditions as in their
countries of origin:

– Sankt Georgios
Church, Stockholm – Greek Orthodox

– Alexander Nevsky Russian Orthodox Parish, Stockholm

– Holy Anna Orthodox
Parish, Aspudden – Serbian Orthodox

– Saint Nicholas
Orthodox Church, Södermalm – Finnish Orthodox

– Armenian
Apostolic Church of Sweden, Järfälla

– Coptic Orthodox
Church of Sweden, Stockholm

All hold midnight services on the night of April 11 to 12.

Torghandel and the Easter table

Lamb is the common denominator from Athens to Addis
Ababa. Pork dominates the Catholic tables of Poland and Croatia. Minced meat
and cuts appear in Ukrainian and Romanian meat pies and stews.

Torghandel currently has in stock:

– Boneless leg of
lamb 1.5 kg – 158 SEK/kg

– Lamb shank 0.9
kg – 115 SEK/piece

– Pork neck 2.5
kg – 50 SEK/kg

– Beef mince 18%
fat 2 kg – 94 SEK/kg

– Mixed mince 2
kg – 88.50 SEK/kg

Sweden reduced the food VAT from 12 to 6 percent on
April 1. Torghandel passes the full reduction on to you.

What is missing from your Easter
table?

We do not yet carry bone-in whole leg of lamb, lamb
mince, white Polish sausage or smoked pork knuckle. Perhaps that is exactly
what you need.

Tell us in the comments or write to
service@torghandel.se. What you ask for this year may be in stock by next
Easter.

Order
for Orthodox Easter on April 12.

torghandel.se

Happy Easter – Christos Anesti ·
Christos Voskrese · Kristus
on üles tõusnud · Wesołego Alleluja · Tensae