Since ancient times, spring has been lauded as a season of renewal and rebirth. It heralds the chance for another try, a new beginning, a second chance. Cultures around the world recognize the new flowering of life with celebrations. Spring is traditionally a time for joy and festivities, a chance to throw off the confines of winter and look to the promises and hopes of the rest of the year. The following are summaries of a few popular spring celebrations.

Fat Tuesday (March 8, 2011)

Also commonly known as the last day of Mardi Gras, Fat Tuesday is the final day before Lent (see below) commences. In preparation for the solemnities of Lent, people often hold celebrations and eat rich, fatty foods. In the Pennsylvania-Dutch and German cultures, the Tuesday before Lent is known as Fastnacht Day, which is a day to (brace yourself) eat doughnuts. Historically, people would use up all the fat and sugar they had before Lent by making special potato doughnuts without holes. They would then eat them with syrup. Specific regions have their own festivities to celebrate the day, but the extravaganzas ultimately lead up to Ash Wednesday and to Lent.

Lent (March 19, 2011- April 23, 2011)

Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of Lent, a period of time in the Christian religion to prepare for Easter and to commemorate the 40 days that Jesus of Nazareth spent in the desert before beginning his ministry. Traditionally, Lent within the Catholic church meant strict rules pertaining to diet, particularly restricting the consumption of meats, fats and sugars. Today, however, the rules have been notably relaxed.

In most Protestant sects, observing Lent is considered a choice rather than an obligation. Many choose to give something up, however, whether it be a food (soda, chocolate, alcohol, etc.) or an activity such as watching a favorite TV show or playing video games. On Easter Sunday, Lent is over, and a day of celebration follows.

April Fools’ Day (April 1)

April Fools’ Day is known as a day of practical jokes and good-humored foolishness. It is widely celebrated throughout the western world. It is not clear what the precise origins of the holiday are, but it has been around since at least the 1500s. Following are some of the top April Fools’ pranks of all time.

• 1976: BBC Radio 2 listeners were told by British astronomer Sir Patrick Moore that the alignment of two planets would result in an upward gravitational pull at exactly 9:47 a.m. that day. Moore invited his listeners to jump into the air and said that they would experience a floating sensation. Dozens of people phoned in to the radio station to report that the experiment had worked.
• 1996: Taco Bell took out a full-page ad in The New York Times to announce that they had purchased the Liberty Bell and renamed it the “Taco Liberty Bell”. White House press secretary Mike McCurry, when asked about the sale, replied that the Lincoln Memorial had also been sold and would be renamed the Lincoln Mercury Memorial.
• 1998: Burger King ran an advertisement in a newspaper announcing that they had introduced a Whopper for left-handed people with condiments designed to drip out of the right-hand side. Customers ordered the new burgers, and some requested the old, right-handed burger.

Passover (sunset on April 18, 2011- night of April 25, 2011)

Passover is one of the most widely celebrated Jewish holidays. It is observed to commemorate the flight of the Israelites from slavery in Egypt. The Israelites were instructed to mark their doors with lamb’s blood when God sent a plague throughout Egypt. They were therefore spared from the death of every first-born that afflicted the Egyptians. When Pharaoh freed the Israelites, they left so quickly that they did not have time to let their bread rise, which is why Passover is also known as “the Festival of the Unleavened Bread”. Matzo (a type of flat bread) is traditionally eaten during the holiday. Jews do not eat leavened products or regular flour during Passover.

Easter (April 24, 2011)

Easter is celebrated on the first Sunday after the full moon that occurs on or after the spring equinox. It is the celebration of the resurrection of Christ on the third day after his crucifixion. For Christians, Easter is a time of joy and a celebration of triumph over death and sin.  

Easter has also taken on a secular role in western society, with traditions such as Easter egg hunts and the Easter Bunny. “Easter eggs” were originally pagan symbols of rebirth associated with the spring season that were adopted by early Christians as a symbol of resurrection. Today, many people dye chicken eggs or use plastic or candy eggs for their hunts.

May Day (May 1)

May Day is a traditionally pagan holiday dedicated to the celebration of nature and the new life of spring. Celebrations of May Day include adornment of people and things with flowers, dancing around a Maypole decked with colorful streamers and ribbons, and the crowning of the Queen of the May.

During the labor movements of the late 1800s, however, May Day began to take on a different connotation as International Workers’ Day. Riots occurred on May Day in 1894 and 1919, and the International Socialist Conference called for energetic demonstrations on May 1 in 1904. The working classes in many countries (including the People’s Republic of China, Cuba and the former Soviet Union) succeeded in making May Day an official holiday. The day has served as a time of demonstration for various communist, socialist, and anarchist groups. In the U.S., however, May Day remains primarily a celebration of the renewals of spring.