For all of us hardworking folk here in Shrewsbury, it’s fantastic to be able to look forwards to an extended bank holiday break this Easter – and to all that chocolate the Easter bunny will bring!

Good Friday and Easter Monday on April 6th and 9th give us a four day break to spend with our families and friends. 

Whether you are at home or going away, there is always lots going on at Easter and for the grocery stores it’s as busy as Christmas with all the food and drink sales. 

Here in Shrewsbury there will be plenty to do as ever and you can check out our events section for inspiration on things to see and places to go. After all, those Easter Eggs need to be worked off somehow! 

If you are sending cards to your friends or family, try and support your independent card shops in Shrewsbury if you can, where you can find some different cards than on the mainstream shelves.

And if you are venturing out for a few drinks or for a meal this Easter time, we have a great selection of some of the most loved places to eat in town and the surrounding areas.

Anyway, we thought we'd share some top Easter facts with you. Easter is of course a very important time in the religious calendar, but there are many other interesting morsels of information surrounding this ‘holiday’.

• The first Easter baskets were made to look like bird's nests. 

• The traditional act of painting eggs is called Pysanka. 

• The custom of giving eggs at Easter time has been traced back to Egyptians, Persians, Gauls, Greeks and Romans, to whom the egg was a symbol of life. 

• In medieval times a festival of egg-throwing was held in church, during which the priest would throw a hard-boiled egg to one of the choir boys. It was then tossed from one choir boy to the next and whoever held the egg when the clock struck 12 was the winner and retained the egg.

• Easter is now celebrated (in the words of the Book of Common Prayer) on the first Sunday after the full moon which happens on or after March 21, the Spring Equinox.  

• Some lucky Americans are invited to celebrate Easter with a large Easter egg hunt on the White House Lawn. 

• Every year at Easter Pope John Paul sends his " Urbi et Orbi " to the world. 

• Like Easter, the Jewish festival of Passover is at Springtime and has moveable dates. Unlike Easter, it is celebrated for seven or eight days.