Egg rolling, or anEaster egg roll, is a traditional game played with eggs atEaster. Different nations have different versions of the game, usually played withhard-boiled,decorated eggs.
InChristianity, for the celebration of Eastertide, Easter eggs symbolize theempty tomb ofJesus, from which he wasresurrected.[1][2][3] Additionally, eggs carry aTrinitarian significance, with shell, yolk, and albumen being three parts of one egg.[4] DuringLent, the season of repentance that precedes Easter, eggs along with meat,dairy foods, and wine are traditionally abstained from, a practice that continues inEastern Christianity and among certainWestern Christian congregations that do theDaniel Fast.[5][6]
After the forty-day Lenten season concludes andEastertide begins, eggs may be consumed again, giving rise to traditions such as egg rolling,[7] which alsosymbolizes the angel rolling away the stone at the entrance of the tomb.[8]
In theUnited Kingdom the tradition of rolling decorated eggs down grassy hills goes back hundreds of years and is known as "pace-egging". The term originates from theOld EnglishPasch, taken from the HebrewPesach meaningPassover.[9] InLancashire there are annual egg rolling competitions at Holcombe Hill nearRamsbottom and Avenham Park inPreston. Egg rolling has been a tradition atAvenham Park for hundreds of years, but in recent years chocolate eggs have been used.[10] Other traditional egg rolling sites are the castle moat atPenrith, Bunkers Hill inDerby,Arthur's Seat inEdinburgh,[11] Hill 60 on the Beverley Westwood and onPenshaw Hill in Tyne and Wear atPenshaw Monument.[12]
Traditionally, the eggs were wrapped in onion skins and boiled to give them amottled, gold appearance (although today they usually are painted), and the children competed to see who could roll their egg the farthest.[9] There is an old Lancashire legend that says the broken eggshells should be crushed carefully afterward, or these would be stolen and used as boats bywitches.[13] The eggs were eaten on Easter Sunday or given out topace-eggers – fantastically dressed characters who processed through the streets singing traditional pace-egging songs and collecting money as a tribute before performing traditionalmumming plays.[14] At theWordsworth Museum inGrasmere, there is a collection of highly decorated eggs made for the poet's children.[14]
In Scotland,pace-eggin is traditional fromShetland toThe Borders although the day varied with location.Pace-egg day variously was Holy Saturday, Easter Sunday, orEaster Monday.[15]Paiss-braes, hills, were used or other grassy slopes or areas such as seasidelinks.[15] There is some variation in the spelling and pronunciation of the termpace, includingpash,peace andpaste.[15]
In theUnited States, theEaster Egg Roll is held on theWhite House South Lawn eachEaster Monday for children, age 13 and younger, and their parents. It is hosted by thepresident of the United States and thefirst lady of the United States.
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The Egg Roll is a race where children push an egg through the grass with a long-handled spoon.[16] Surrounding events include live entertainment, appearances by White House personalities inEaster Bunny costumes, speeches and book-reading bycabinet secretaries or celebrity guests, and exhibits of artistically decorated eggs. The event traditionally begins with a performance of thenational anthem, followed by opening remarks by the President and the First Lady. Since 2017, the national anthem cannot be sung by a notable recording artist.
A legend claims thatDolley Madison, the wife of PresidentJames Madison, began the event in 1814.[17] Rolling Easter eggs was a popular annual custom inWashington, D.C., andAlexandria, Virginia, as early as the 1850s. Children rolled eggs on Easter Monday (and sometimesGood Friday) at theCapitol, the White House, and other parks and open spaces.[18] Easter eggs were rolled at the Capitol as early as 1855[19] and at the White House as early as 1860.[20] By the 1870s, the Capitol had become the most popular place to roll eggs, although they were also rolled at the White House and other places.[18]
In 1876, shortly after a particularly rambunctious Easter egg roll destroyed much of the lawn at the Capitol,Congress passed a law making it illegal to use the Capitol complex as a children's playground. Heavy rain prevented much egg rolling in 1877, so the ban was not tested until 1878.[21]
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At the request of a number of children, including his own, then presidentRutherford B. Hayes and first ladyLucy Hayes brought the event to the White House lawns in 1878.[22] From 1878 on, the egg roll was an annual White House event, with the exception of 1917 (moved to theWashington Monument), 1918–1920 (canceled due to food shortages andinfluenza concerns), 1942 (moved to the Capitol West Lawn), 1943–1945 (World War II), 1946–1947 (food conservation), 1948–1952 (restoration of the White House) and 2020–2021 (social distancing measures to mitigate theCOVID-19 pandemic),[23][24][25] then resumed in 2022.[26]
In 1953,Mamie Eisenhower proposed that the event beopened toblack children, who were allowed to participate starting in 1954.[27] Since 1977, theAmerican Egg Board has heavily supported the event.
The event was featured in the 2007 filmNational Treasure: Book of Secrets.
In 2025, the Trump administration announced that companies could sponsor the event with a $200,000 contribution.[28]
InGermany, a prize is awarded to the contestant whose egg rolls the fastest down a track made of sticks. InDenmark, decorated eggs are rolled down slopes in grassland or forest, and the contestant whose egg rolls farthest is the winner, with unbroken eggs eaten after the game. The tradition is widespread around the town ofKøge. InLithuania, one collects those eggs touched by the one rolled.
InEgypt, children bowl red and yellow eggs toward another row of eggs, and whoever's egg cracks one egg may claim them all.
In eastern Europe, there are other traditions such asegg tapping andegg decorating.[29]
Easter eggs are used as a Christian symbol to represent the empty tomb. The outside of the egg looks dead but inside there is new life, which is going to break out. The Easter egg is a reminder that Jesus will rise from His tomb and bring new life. Orthodox Christians dye boiled eggs red to make red Easter eggs that represent the blood of Christ shed for the sins of the world.
Just so, on that first Easter morning, Jesus came to life and walked out of the tomb, and left it, as it were, an empty shell. Just so, too, when the Christian dies, the body is left in the grave, an empty shell, but the soul takes wings and flies away to be with God. Thus you see that though an egg seems to be as dead as a stone, yet it really has life in it; and also it is like Christ's dead body, which was raised to life again. This is the reason we use eggs on Easter. (In days past some used to color the eggs red, so as to show the kind of death by which Christ died,-abloody death.)
Red eggs are given to Orthodox Christians after the Easter Liturgy. They crack their eggs against each other's. The cracking of the eggs symbolizes a wish to break away from the bonds of sin and misery and enter the new life issuing from Christ's resurrection.
In some cases, entire churches do the Daniel Fast together during Lent. The idea strikes a chord in Methodist traditions, which trace their heritage to John Wesley, a proponent of fasting. Leaders in the African Methodist Episcopal Church have urged churchgoers to do the Daniel Fast together, and congregations from Washington to Pennsylvania and Maryland have joined in.
Many parishioners at St. Philip Neri are participating in the Daniel fast, a religious diet program based on the fasting experiences of the Old Testament prophet Daniel. ... participating parishioners started the fast Ash Wednesday (Feb. 10) and will continue through Holy Saturday, the day before Easter Sunday.
To-day, according to yearly custom, the juveniles, boys and girls, are enjoying themselves immensely in the President's grounds rolling Easter eggs down the slopes, cracking them, and having a merry time generally. The grounds are fairly musical with their ringing, childish laughter.
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