Egg-straordinary Easter World Records

Have you heard about some of the egg-straordinary Easter world records from around the globe? There's something about this time of year that seems to inspire people to take part in some crazy antics, as the Guinness World Records reveal.

However, we shouldn't forget that it's not all about chocolate eggs and bunnies - even though most kids would have us believe it is! Easter is a Christian celebration culminating in Easter Sunday, which commemorates Jesus' resurrection from death after he was crucified on the cross.

This year, Good Friday falls on 30th March and Easter Sunday on 1st April. Monday 2nd April is traditionally a Bank Holiday, as is Good Friday.

For many, Easter is the greatest festival of the church year - a time of great joy that Jesus has risen. Christians across the world will celebrate with church services, flowers, the ringing of church bells and Easter processions in some countries, including Spain and the Philippines.

Biggest Easter egg hunt

Aside from the Christian celebrations, some people have completed some crazy Easter achievements. The largest Easter egg hunt ever involved organisers hiding 501,000 eggs at Florida's Cypress Gardens Adventure Park on 1st April 2007. The event attracted 9,753 children and adults.

Others have tried and failed to beat the amazing record, including a well-documented Easter egg hunt in Sacramento, California, in April 2015, which reportedly descended into chaos. As soon as the hunt began, there was a stampede of kids and over-zealous parents, with small children getting trampled in the rush and parents pushing each other out of the way in their bid to grab the most eggs.

The record attempt failed and the local newspaper, the Sacramento Bee, later described the trouble as having been caused by some "bad eggs" in the crowd. Although organisers claimed 510,000 eggs were hidden, this was never certified by the Guinness World Records.

Most entrants in an Easter egg hunt

Despite the largest egg hunt (in terms of the number of eggs) taking place in 2007, there's a different world record for the most people to take part in an egg hunt. According to Guinness World Records, 12,773 entrants joined in the Fabergé Big Egg Hunt in London between 21st February and 1st April 2012.

The charity fundraising hunt (in aid of Action For Children and the wildlife charity Elephant Family) was sponsored by the world famous jeweller, Fabergé - renowned for making very expensive collectible eggs. Around 200 artists and celebrities painted metre-high fibreglass eggs and hid them around London. Entrants had 40 days to find the giant eggs, which were later sold at auction - raising £667,000 for the two charities.

Easter food records

The world's most expensive chocolate egg was sold at auction for a whopping £7,000 at the Royal Courts of Justice, in London, in March 2012. It was called Golden Speckled Egg and was created by seven designers (six from Britain and one from Japan) who used more than 50kg of chocolate and edible decorations to make the egg that stood at 3ft 6ins.

The most expensive hot cross bun was sold at auction in April 2000 for an incredible £155. It was eggs-tra special because it was almost 200 years old. The bun had been baked in Stepney in 1829 and had been carefully preserved when it was purchased by British collector Bill Foster at an antiques show at Birmingham NEC.

The largest chocolate Easter egg (created in Tosca, Italy) weighed an amazing 7,200kg and had a circumference of 64ft 3.65ins when the Guinness World Records measured it at the Acciaierie Shopping Centre on 16th April 2011. Prior to this, the record for the largest chocolate Easter egg was held by a 1,200kg egg made in Sint Niklaas, Belgium, in March 2004.

Apart from the crazy world records surrounding Easter, it's also a time for sending greetings cards. This tradition began in the 1890s, according to Royal Mail. The first Easter card was created by a stationer in London (identity unknown) who added a greeting to a card depicting a drawing of a rabbit.

By 1910, chickens, lambs and eggs featured on many Easter cards as symbols of rebirth. The Easter bunny appeared on many cards, often with eggs to represent fruitfulness. The tradition snowballed over the years and today, more than 9.9 million Easter cards are sent annually in the UK alone.

The Easter holiday means big business for retailers selling Easter eggs and greetings cards. With around 80 million chocolate eggs sold in the UK every year, this makes up 10% of the nation's annual spending on chocolate!

To enhance your retail premises and to ensure the best possible shopping experience, KAS Shopfittings supplies a selection of high-quality shop fittings, including shelving for Easter eggs and card racks for Easter greetings cards. Our shelving systems, slatwall, shop counters and other display equipment are available for nationwide delivery. Please contact us for further details.

KAS Shopfittings would like to wish everyone a very happy Easter!