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Following the edicts of the Council of Nicea in 325 AD, Easter became the first moveable feast, with its date being set at any time between March 22nd and April 25th.
Easter week begins on Palm Sunday, with traditional donkey rides, then continues through Sneeze Monday, Corncrake Day, Harsh Wednesday, Monday Thursday and Good Friday, before Easter weekend heralds a busy programme of league football, ceremonial cross-dressing and the eating of leeks.
Easter eggs were introduced by followers of St Eanswide of Cadbury in the 1720s, and soon after, Easter egg hunts began in Orpington to encourage children to keep chickens and other oviparous animals.
The Easter bunny was introduced by the Ministry of Agriculture after the outbreak of myxomatosis in 1932 – originally to allay fears that the disease could be transmitted to humans – but since 1981, it has mainly been confined to the London marathon, even though there is no specific entry category for rabbits.
Other Easter traditions include the Easter Island, a dessert of meringues floating in flummery; Horace dancing, folk entertainment based on the life of the Roman poet; and the Waxberry Trudge, a Shropshire custom of collecting wild fruit in a hat prior to the baking of the Wenlock Simnel.