The arrival of Spring means of one two things: warmer weather and religious festivities.
In Lebanon, a country that's home to 18 different sects, Easter is a major one.
This year, Easter falls on April 16, and for many, the date couldn't come soon enough.
Here are 7 reasons why we love Easter in Lebanon.
1. Maamoul
Just like any other celebration in Lebanon, food is a big part of the Easter festivities.
Maamoul, a traditional Lebanese sweet, is exclusively baked and sold during the Easter holidays. This delicious Easter sweet is made from semolina shortbread, butter, orange blossom water and rose water.
Although the recipe and ingredients seem quite simple, the process requires a lot of hard work and a whole lot of patience.
2. Coloring and decorating eggs
In the week preceding Easter morning, families gather to decorate real hard boiled eggs with food coloring.
Although the tradition is a great source of family quality time, it's not just fun and games.
On Easter Sunday both children and adults gather to break egg shells by hitting them against each other.
This symbolizes the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
3. Visiting your teta's house for those yummy chocolate eggs
On any day of the year you never leave grandma's house without getting a handful of sweets, but on Easter be sure to get your hands on those tasty chocolate eggs!
4. A reason to go shopping
Who doesn't love shopping, right? Easter festivities always give us a reason to blow our cash.
With the sun shining brighter and the weather getting warmer, people are eager to use Easter as an excuse to go out and shop till they drop!
5. A reason to celebrate
Lebanese people just love to celebrate and have a good time, so come Easter get ready for the good times! Whether you celebrate Easter or not, you can't help but get affected by the outdoor celebrations and events.
One such event is the outdoor Lebanese street food festival, Souk el Akl, which will happen in Ehden during Easter weekend.
6. Finally meeting extended family members
With big celebrations come a whole bunch of extended family members we barely know.
Every Lebanese can relate to that awkward moment they had to act like they remember the tante pinching their cheeks and calling them habibi way, way back.
7. And of course, celebrating Jesus Christ's resurrection
Underneath it all, Easter is simply about the memory of the resurrection of Jesus Christ and his sacrifice to mankind.
Happy Easter ya'll!