In Bulgaria Easter is celebrated at church. Eggs and bread play a large role in the tradition of the holiday.
The Easter Egg in Bulgaria is usually painted a bright red, and is the symbol for the entire celebration of Easter for Orthodox Christians all over the world. In recent years the egg painting has expanded and red is not the only colour used, a variety of other colors are used as well. Great and Holy Thursday (Veli chetvortok) - this is the day when the Easter red eggs are colored (vapsuvat). People take one of their red eggs to church for the service of the 12 Passion Gospels. After the service they bury the egg in the vineyard so that God keeps them from hailstorms (gradushka) and to give them a good harvest (beriket). People believe that a Holy Thursday egg would last that way all year. On Great and Holy Friday each family always buys a new pottery dish. The Easter markets are generally very busy on Good Friday.
In some occasions the eggs can be painted on the Saturday before the holiday. Of course, there are many ways of decorating them. Except for the standard way (dipping the egg into a vessel and waiting for the paint to cover all its surface) my granny has taught me one different but really impressive way of tinging eggs. She puts one in a piece of cotton, previously spinkled with different paints. Then she wraps it up and waits some minutes for the paint to dry up. The result is a really marvelous product which everyone enjoys.
Easter breads play a big role as well, because they are a part of the Orthodox tradition. They differ in size - big and small - and all are decorated. The bread is called "kolache" or "kozunak". There is no exact English translation, although the Italian "Panettone" (sold under that name in the US) tastes similar to the Bulgarian bread.
One of the Easter breads is specially decorated with one or more (but always an odd number) of red eggs are incrustated into it. This bread is taken to church on Saturday evening when a special service takes place. The service has several sections: Midnight Office, Rush Procession, Matins & Divine Liturgy. These are actually the services of Great and Holy Pascha. After the service the clergy blesses the breads and eggs brought by the people and they take them home. The breads and eggs are presented to friends and Spiritual parents (God parents, "krustnitcite), to biological parents and other relatives. According to the tradition everyone has to take a candle lit in the church to his home, trying to keep it alight. If you manage to do it, it is a good sign for happiness and health during the upcoming year.
The eggs are cracked after the midnight service and during the next days. One egg is cracked on the wall of the church and this is the first egg eaten after the long Great Fast. The ritual of cracking the eggs takes place before the Easter lunch. Each person selects an egg and people take turns tapping their egg against the eggs of others. The person who ends up with the last unbroken egg is believed to have a year of good luck.
There is also a special Easter greeting that continues for 40 days after Easter (Pascha). The traditional Orthodox greeting is "Christ is Risen!" The answer is "Indeed He is Risen". These greetings are also exchanged during the tapping of the eggs and repeated three times when the tapping is over.
Until recently there was a tradition that a hostess gives a red egg to every guest during Easter. Today the tradition remains only for the children who are very happy to get an egg as a present. During the Easter week children, and, in old times adults too, play with the eggs, trying to break each other. Whoever breaks the egg of the opponent, gets it as a prize.