Sham el-Nessim The Great Egyptian Festival, and how to celebrate it in Egypt?

Sham ennisim is an Egyptian national holiday marking the beginning of spring. It always falls on the day after the Eastern Christian Easter Despite the Christian-related date, the holiday is celebrated by Egyptians regardless of religion.

The original photo of the colored egg of  Sham el-Nessim

The name of the holiday is derived from the Egyptian name of the Harvest Season, known as Shemu, which means a day of creation. 

The Ancient Egyptians (and even the Egyptians now ) used to offer salted fish, lettuce, and onions to their deities on this day

The Photoshop picture

The holiday was settled on Easter Monday. The date of Sham el-Nessim remained on the Christian-linked date even after most Egyptians had become Muslims.

As Egypt became Arabized, the term Shemu found a rough phono-semantic match in Sham el-Nessim, or " Smelling of the Zephyr " which fairly accurately represents the way in which Egyptians celebrate the holiday. 

Celebration of the day in Egypt .

A custom termed 'Shemm en-Nessem' (or the Smelling of the Zephyr) is observed on the first day of the Khamaseen. Early in the morning of this day, many persons, especially women, break an onion, and smell it(as an old habit ).

All the Egyptians Muslims and Christians used to go out side their houses for a walk in groups to calibrate the occasion .

 In the course of the forenoon many of the citizens of Cairo ride or walk a little way into the country, or go in boats, generally northward, to take the air, or, as they term it, smell the air, which on that day they believe to have a wonderfully beneficial effect. The greater number dine in the country or on the river. This year they were treated with a violent hot wind, accompanied by clouds of dust, instead of the neseem; but considerable numbers, notwithstanding, went out to 'smell' it.

The modern Sham-ennisim is celebrated by both Christians and Muslims, so it is considered a national festival, rather than a religious one. The main features of the festival are:

• People spend all day out picnicking in any space of green, public gardens, on the Nile, or at the zoo.
• Traditional food eaten on this day consists mainly of Feseekh (a salted Grey Mullet), lettuce, scallions or green onions, tirmis(the Egyptian name) or Lupin Beans, and colored boiled eggs.

Thanks

MR