Christians observe Easter, which can be considered as the most important festival in their calendar. It follows three days after Jesus was executed by the Romans at Calvary and celebrates their belief in his rising from the dead and his ascension into Heaven to join his Father. It is the culmination of the religious season of Lent, a 40-day period of fasting, prayer, and penance – marking the completion of the Passion of Christ, beginning from Lent and ending with Holy Week, which includes Holy Thursday (also Maundy Thursday which celebrates Jesus’ Last Supper with his 12 Apostles), Good Friday (when Jesus’ crucifixion is observed) and finally ending with Easter.
The date of Easter varies from year to year since unlike most Western commemorations that are based on the solar calendar, this one follows the spring equinox and is celebrated after the Paschal Full Moon which causes the date to shift yearly as per lunar cycles. For Christians, Easter is believed to be the dawn of a new beginning, a time of resurrection and a celebration of life that reminds us that hope must never be lost, for as dark as the road may seem, there always lies light at the end of it. On this day, the community generally celebrates with feasts, attends prayer services, decorates and distributes Easter eggs, and plays traditional Easter games. The hot cross bun, which has a venerable history – even predating European Christianity – is a fixture and a favourite of people from all religions during the Easter season. In Guyana, as in some of our fellow former British Caribbean colonies, Easter has become associated with kite flying, in which most non-Christians also participate, sometimes as family picnics. Some believe the origin of this custom may lay in the rising of the kites into the skies to metaphorically represent Jesus’ ascent into Heaven.
As is customary with commemorations of events that originate far back in time, other events will become associated with them – such as the aforementioned kite flying. In Guyana, two others that stand out and have now become national events are the Rupununi Rodeo and the Bartica Regatta. Interestingly, both take place in our interior region, away from the populated coastland. They have both become major tourist attractions. The Rupununi Rodeo originated in the cattle ranches launched by the beginning of the 20th century by a Scotsman via Jamaica, Harry Melville. His Dadanawa Ranch was arguably the largest in the world, and even though he returned to Britain, his ten children from two local wives have kept the name and the cattle ranching tradition alive. Influenced by the American “cowboy” traditions, the Rodeo was started in the 1950s and grew by leaps and bounds by the 1980s, as the roads to the Rupununi became better.
Lying on the mighty Essequibo’s junction with its great tributaries, the Cuyuni and the Mazaruni, Bartica is the “gateway to the interior” – always connected with the coastland via the waterways. The Regatta’s weeks-long activities now include beauty pageants, cultural shows, and family-centred activities to complement the water sports. More than 10,000 visitors will visit from far and wide – especially from the Diaspora – to experience this special experience of Guyana.
Back to Easter’s Christian religious origins, in Rome, where the Christian religion took early root under the guidance of Peter, who was a direct disciple of Jesus, Holy Week events in the Eternal City include a ceremony in which the Pope washes the feet of a dozen men at a service commemorating Christ’s gesture of humility to his apostles. This gesture is replicated by the local Catholic Bishop in Guyana. There is also the re-enactment of the events – depicting those outlined in the Passion of Christ in a series of 14 pictures – this occurred on Good Friday and are dubbed “Stations of the Cross”. It begins with the CONDEMNATION of Jesus to death, followed by him BEARING the cross, his FALL, CRUCIFIXION and BURIAL, etc.
Happy Easter 2025.
