Processions, Colorful Sawdust Carpets, and Cascarones

Semana Santa, Holy Week, or la Semana Mayor (the Greatest Week) is full of rich traditions in Central America.

Families eat unique dishes and create colorful crafts. You can mesmerize at the beauty of sawdust carpets or have Cascarrones (hollow eggs with confetti inside) cracked on your head!

Growing up in Honduras, my family ate sopa de pescado seco (dried-salted fish soup) and went to the beach on the northern coast where we had family.  It is said that the best time to avoid traffic is in Tegucigalpa is during Semana Santa when two-thirds of the population abandons the city for the beach.

For Christians worldwide, Semana Santa is the most significant week in the Christian liturgical calendar. This is when we remember the death, resurrection, and ascension of Christ, an event in history that brings hope and life to a very broken world, both on a personal and collective level.

Scroll down for some helpful resources on Easter Across Latin America! Enjoy!

Sawdust Carpets 

Sawdust Carpets in Comayagua, Honduras

History of Sawdust Carpets in Comayagua, Honduras

Sawdust Carpet Tutorial in Spanish

Sawdust Carpets in Antigua Guatemala

How to Make Cascarones

Making cascarones is so easy! Buy real eggs, food coloring and paper maché. Have a glue stick and containers with water handy. Watch the tutorials and have fun cracking eggs on family and friends’ heads!

Just make sure to scramble the whites and the yokes afterwards!

Tutorial in English

Tutorial in Spanish

Did you know?

Did you know that Easter is not just one day?  It's actually a season that lasts 50 days that begins on Easter Sunday and ends in Pentecost.  I did not know that!  But now I know!!!!