Ducking Monday - Hungary
Easter Monday is known as 'Húsvéthétfő' in Hungarian. It is also called 'Ducking Monday' as Men visit women and ask for permission for sprinkling by reciting a little Easter poem, they sprinkle them with some perfume (or sometimes a bucket of cold water in the countryside), and they get eggs (mostly of chocolate) in exchange. In the present time, they spray perfume, cologne or just plain water, and then ask for a kiss and a red egg.
Sprinkling (Locsolkodás), the very popular custom of Easter in Hungary, is observed on Easter Monday.
Eastern Orthodox Celebration
In the Eastern Orthodox Church Easter Monday is known as "Bright Monday" or "Renewal Monday". The services that day, as in the rest of Bright Week, are quite different than during the rest of the year and are similar to the services on Pascha (Easter Sunday) and include an outdoor procession after the Divine Liturgy; while this is prescribed for all days of that week, often they are only celebrated on Monday and maybe a couple of other days in parish churches, especially in non-Orthodox countries. Also, when the calendar date of the feast day of a major saint, e.g., St. George or the patron saint of a church or one's name day, falls during Holy Week or on Easter Sunday, the saint's day is celebrated on Easter Monday.
It is customarily a day for visiting family and friends and day drinking.
Australia
In Australia, Easter Monday is a public holiday. People enjoy outdoor sporting events, such as the Oakbank Easter Racing Carnival in South Australia, Australian Three Peaks Race in Tasmania as well as the Stawell Gift.
Egypt
In Egypt, the ancient festival of Sham El Nessim (literally meaning "smelling of the breeze") is celebrated on the Coptic (i.e. Eastern) Easter Monday, though the festival dates back to Pharonic times (about 2700 BC). It is celebrated by both Egyptian Christians and Muslims as an Egyptian national holiday rather than as a religious one. Traditional activities include painting eggs, taking meals outdoors, and eating feseekh (fermented mullet).
Ireland
In the Republic of Ireland it is a day of remembrance for the men and women who died in the Easter Rising which began on Easter Monday 1916. Until 1966, there was a parade of veterans, past the headquarters of the Irish Republican Army at the General Post Office (GPO) on O'Connell Street, and a reading of the Proclamation of the Irish Republic.
United States
Though not largely observed in the United States, the day remains informally observed in some areas such as the state of North Dakota, and some cities in New York, Michigan, and Indiana. Easter Monday was a public holiday in North Carolina from 1935 to 1987. Texas and Maryland schools often have two holidays on Good Friday and Easter Monday. Public schools and universities are closed on Easter Monday, usually part of spring break.
Traditionally Polish areas of the country such as Chicago, and more recently Cleveland, observe Easter Monday as Dyngus Day. In the United States, Dyngus Day celebrations are widespread and popular in Buffalo; Wyandotte and Hamtramck in Michigan; South Bend and La Porte in Indiana; and Hanover, New Hampshire.
Central Europe
Śmigus-Dyngus (Polish Dyngus or lany poniedziałek, meaning Wet Monday) is the name for Easter Monday in Poland and the diaspora. In the Czech Republic it is called velikonoční pondělí. In Slovakia veľkonočný pondelok, also called Šibačka/Polievačka or Oblievačka. In Hungary Locsolkodás. All countries practice a unique custom on this day. In Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic traditionally, early in the morning boys awake girls by pouring a bucket of water on their head and striking them about the legs with long thin twigs or switches made from willow, birch or decorated tree branches. Another related custom, unique to Poland, is that of sprinkling bowls (garce) of ashes on people (starts men on women) or houses, celebrated a few weeks earlier at the "półpoście." This custom is almost forgotten, but still practices in the area around the borders of Mazuria and Masovia.
In Germany, people go out into the fields early in the morning and hold Easter egg races. For Roman Catholics, Easter Monday is also a Holy Day of Obligation in Germany.
Elsewhere in the world
- In Guyana, people fly kites, which are made on Holy Saturday.
- Inn Leicestershire, England the people of Hallaton hold a bottle-kicking match and Hare Pie Scramble.
- In the Netherlands, people eat a festive breakfast and go hiking or cycling in the countryside.
- It is celebrated in Coastal Northern Portugal as the Anjo Festival (Angel Festival), especially in the region of Póvoa de Varzim and is part of the Easter Celebrations, people go to the countryside and woodlands to picnic and party, it also includes a reminder of pagan beliefs, in which the Hedera helix ivy is especially regarded.