Many Christians in Eastern Europe and those of eastern European ancestry in North America have their Easter feast blessed by a priest. The priest may go to the home, or families may take their food to church for the blessing. Easter Bonnets Wearing new clothes for Easter is a custom common among many Christians. It may have originated from the old practice of having newly baptized Christians wear new white clothes for the Easter celebration. Like many other Easter symbols, the new clothes represent the new life offered through the death and Resurrection of Jesus.
Easter promenades of people in new clothes are a tradition in many European towns and villages.
A person holding a cross or an Easter candle leads some of these promenades. In New York City, thousands of people stroll in the Easter Parade down Fifth Avenue to show off their new clothes following Easter services. In Bethlehem, Pa., for example, a trombone choir of the Moravian Church plays hymns throughout the city before dawn on Easter Sunday to call church members to a sunrise service in the old Moravian cemetery. At the cemetery, the trombones play a joyful chorus as the sun appears on the horizon. A number of popular customs are observed during the Easter season.