7 Easter Related Facts

tallest easter egg

In preparation for Easter weekend, here are 7 facts about the upcoming holiday you may not know.

1.Millions of Chocolate Bunnies

In the USA, 90 million chocolate bunnies and 91.4 billion eggs are produced each year.

2. The Egg That Weighed More Than an Elephant

The tallest chocolate Easter egg was made in Italy in 2011. Standing 10.39 metres tall and weighing 7,200 kg, it was taller than a giraffe and heavier than an elephant (photo above).

3. Medieval Egg Toss

In medieval times, a festival of egg throwing was held in church, when the priest would throw a hard-boiled egg to one of the choirboys. It was then tossed from one choirboy to the next and whoever held the egg when the clock struck 12 was the winner and could keep it.

4. Largest Egg Hunt

The largest ever Easter egg hunt was in Florida, where 9,753 children searched for 501,000 eggs.

5. Pretzels Were Once a Symbol of Easter

In the old days pretzels were associated with Easter because the twists of the pretzel were thought to resemble arms crossing in prayer.

6. Popularity of Marshmallow Peeps 

Each Easter season, Americans buy more than 700 million Marshmallow Peeps, shaped like chicks, as well as Marshmallow Bunnies and Marshmallow Eggs, making them the most popular non-chocolate Easter candy.

7. Jellybeans

At Easter, Americans consume more than 16 million jellybeans, enough to circle the globe three times over.