Easter Monday in Hungary
Easter Monday is a public holiday in Hungary and follows Easter Sunday in the Christian calendar.[1][2] Its best-known Hungarian custom is locsolkodás, when visitors sprinkle girls and women with water or scented water and receive decorated eggs in return.[2][3]
Christian holiday and folk meanings
Easter is the Christian celebration of Jesus Christ’s resurrection. In Hungary, Easter Monday forms part of this religious holiday period, while its folk customs give the day a distinct local character.[2][3]
Hungarian ethnographic sources describe sprinkling as a custom linked to beliefs in water’s purifying and fertility-giving power. The National Ethnographic Museum also notes that water, eggs and other non-religious Easter symbols reflect older fertility beliefs; that context does not establish a single, certain origin for every custom.[2]
Locsolkodás and decorated eggs
Locsolkodás is the signature Easter Monday custom. Visitors traditionally sprinkle girls and women with water; scented water or cologne is now more common. Girls give the visitors decorated or red eggs in return, and short Easter greeting poems accompany visits to homes.[2]
The practice has changed over time. The Hungarian National Archives records that scented water became common from the 1920s and that greeting poems spread later than the sprinkling itself. Its account describes earlier forms using cold well water, while the Ethnographic Museum likewise contrasts older bucketfuls of water with today’s use of cologne.[2][3]
Regional customs and Easter foods
Customs differ by place. The Ethnographic Museum describes hajnalozás in Transylvania: young men, accompanied by musicians, visit homes, dance with the women and then sprinkle them. This regional example sits alongside the more widely known home visits and egg giving.[2]
The museum identifies ham, kalács, horseradish, salt and eggs among the foods taken for blessing and shared at Easter Sunday meals. It also lists kalács, roast leg of lamb and sárga túró among traditional Easter foods. These are part of the wider Easter period, rather than dishes specific to Easter Monday.[2]
Public holiday and practical effects
Hungary’s Labour Code lists Easter Monday as a public holiday. It restricts when employers may schedule ordinary working hours on public holidays, allowing them in specified cases such as seasonal or continuous operations and certain necessary services. The law therefore provides a day away from ordinary work for many employees, while some work may still be scheduled under those exceptions.[1]
The law establishes the holiday status but does not set opening hours for individual banks, shops, restaurants or transport services. Travelers should check directly with the places and services they plan to use.[1]
Frequently asked questions
Is Easter Monday a public holiday in Hungary?
Yes. Hungary’s Labour Code lists Easter Monday among its public holidays. The law allows ordinary working hours in specified cases, so some employees may still be scheduled to work.[1]
What is locsolkodás?
Are banks, shops and public transport open?
The Labour Code does not set opening hours or transport schedules. Check with each bank, shop or transport operator for its holiday service.[1]
Sources and references
Sources used for Easter Monday in Hungary:
- 2012. évi I. törvény- Nemzeti Jogszabálytár (National Legislation Database)
- Húsvétra várva- Néprajzi Múzeum (Museum of Ethnography)
- Húsvét- Magyar Nemzeti Levéltár, Fejér Megyei Levéltára (Hungarian National Archives, Fejér County Archives)