These mostly free Easter events suggest some Christian worship services, Easter crafts to do at home, plus options for other Easter revelry including egg hunts, East bunny photo ops, and celebratory Easter brunch or dinner. But first, we’ll dive into the traditions and history around this spring celebration.
Easter Sunday is March 31, 2024
About Easter
Secular Easter celebrations
Even though Easter is a Christian holy day, like Christmas, it has also become a secular holiday. Easter is a spring event celebrated by retailers and non-Christians around the world, punctuated by a life-size Easter bunny, Easter egg hunts, spring flower bouquets, baked goods, and family gatherings.
Jewish Passover and Muslim Ramadan are sometimes celebrated near Easter time. However, because these holy days do not typically include secular or public events, we do not include them on our calendar. One exception are public Menorah lighting events for Jewish Hanukkah, which usually occurs some time in December.
Most of the events we publish for Easter are secular events enjoyed by many. But if you are curious about the Christian meaning of the holy day, we offer the following brief explanation.
Easter commemorates Jesus Christ’s crucifixion on Good Friday and his subsequent resurrection on Easter Sunday – Depositphotos.com
Christian Easter Traditions
While Christianity has many forms (Eastern Orthodox, Roman Catholic, and Protestant), all Christian faiths have a fundamental belief in Jesus Christ as the son of God. Easter is the most important holiday in the Christian liturgical calendar because it is THE event that defines Christianity by establishing Jesus Christ as The Messiah.
It is interesting to note that many Jews and Muslims also believe in Jesus Christ, though do not believe he was the Messiah.
The Christian view is that God sent his only son, Jesus Christ to minister on earth and save humankind from eternal damnation by atoning for our sins through his “passion” – his suffering and death on the cross. His resurrection three days later on Easter Sunday as recorded in the bible proved to his believers that He was the Messiah: the King and Savior of the Jews.
As a Catholic, I’m not at all offended by the differing beliefs of my Jewish or Muslim or Protestant or agnostic or atheist friends. What matters most is that we respect and love each other, as God commanded us to “love God and love our neighbor as ourselves” (also known as the two greatest commandments). He said it often enough: Leviticus 19:18, Matthew 22:39, Mark 12:31, and Luke 10:27. You’d think we’d have figured it out by now. But I digress.
Lent precedes Easter. Not all Christian religions practice Lent. Beginning on Ash Wednesday, many Christians enter into a 40-day period of fasting, repentance, charity, and prayer to properly prepare for the coming of the Messiah. Mardi Gras or Fat Tuesday is the day before Lent begins—it is one last night of revelry, overeating, and general debauchery before the austerity of Lent.
Holy Week begins on Palm Sunday, one week before Easter Sunday. This is the day Jesus triumphantly entered Jerusalem, only to be tried and sentenced to death five days later.
Lent ends on Maundy* Thursday (three days before Easter Sunday), which is the day Jesus shared his Last Supper with his twelve apostles. Christ’s Last Supper is used as the basis for the “Eucharist” or “Holy Communion”, which many Christians – and Catholics especially – observe every Sunday of the year to commemorate Christ’s sacrifice and his gift of salvation to his believers.
- *”Maundy” refers to the ceremony of washing the feet of the poor. In this context, it commemorates Jesus’ washing His disciples’ feet at the Last Supper.
Then begins the Holy Triduum, the three-day period from Friday to Sunday. Jesus is hung to death on a cross on Good Friday (also referred to as Holy Friday). He rises from the dead two days later on Easter Sunday.
For forty days after Easter Sunday, Jesus spent time with his apostles as recounted in the Bible, primarily in the gospels Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, as well as Acts and 1 Corinthians. The apostles saw Jesus ascend into heaven 40 days after Easter, now known as Holy Thursday.
Easter worship services
The following well-known churches, representing many Christian denominations in the Puget Sound region, offer worship services during Holy Week leading up to and/or including Easter Sunday. Some offer services via livestream. And some also offer family-friendly secular Easter egg hunts.
(Listed roughly north to south by their physical location in the Puget Sound region)
- Lifepoint Church (non-denominational), 14619 28th St NE, Lake Stevens
- Gateway Fellowship (non-denominational), 18901 8th Ave NE, Poulsbo
- St. Mark’s Episcopal Cathedral, 1245 10th AVE E, Seattle
- St James Catholic Cathedral, 804 Ninth Avenue, Seattle
- Mount Zion Baptist Church, 1634 19th Ave, Seattle, WA 98122
- Washington Cathedral (Congregational), 12300 Woodinville Redmond Rd NE, Redmond
- Blue Sky Church (non-denominational), 1720 130th Ave NE, Bellevue
- Champions Center (non-denominational) (3 locations + online)
- Highlands Community Church (non-denominational), 3031 NE 10th St, Renton
- Life Center (non-denominational) (3 locations + online)
Intricate painted eggs are traditional in many East European countries for Easter, including Bulgaria, Poland, Romania, and Ukraine – Depositphotos.com
Free online Easter crafts
Crafts for Easter typically include coloring eggs, decorating baskets, bunny crafts, and other seasonal fun.
- Use chemistry to make super cool Easter eggs
- DIY Homemade Chocolate Egg Recipe — a delicious Easter centerpiece
- Fun science-based crafts Easter Crafts
- Vector Treasure Map: The Ultimate Easter Egg Hunt
- Simple cotton ball bunny craft for kids
- Cotton Ball Handprint Chick Craft For Kids
- Construction and Tissue Paper Easter Card demo on YouTube
- 5 Easter DIYs to try from Sunset Magazine
- How to Make a Paper Mache Bunny Sculpture
- Easter Crafts for Kids from dltk-holidays.com
- Easter coloring pages from coloringpages.net
- Easter coloring pages from crayola.com
- Easter coloring pages from coloring.ws
- Easter coloring pages from education.com
- Easter coloring pages from coloring2print.com
You might also like: Free printable coloring and activity pages for kids and adults – Greater Seattle on the Cheap
Options for Easter brunch and dinner
Check our list of Easter Brunch or Dinner to go.
But wait, there’s more!
- Where to get Easter bunny photos
- Easter egg hunts in the Puget Sound region
- Find free and cheap things to do every day on the Greater Seattle on the Cheap calendar.
- Visit the Greater Seattle on the Cheap home page and choose from a menu of free and cheap activities in the Puget Sound region.
Easter menus include many kinds of traditional and contemporary baked goods, including hot cross buns, Russian kulich, Italian Pane di Pasqua, East European Paska bread, marshmallow “peeps”, bunny cakes, lamb cakes, bird nests, Danish pastries, carrot cake, rhubarb desserts, pavlova or meringue shells, and many more – Depositphotos.com
Easter events calendar
The upcoming events on our calendar include mostly secular Easter events of all kinds, including egg hunts, Easter Bunny photo ops, and more.
Multiple locations
Your house!
