Spring is in the air. We all know it when the birds begin to sing, the snow begins to melt, and folks just seem to have a smile on their face.
Marking spring for cultures in the Northern Hemisphere is the vernal equinox (meaning “equal night”) on March 21, a time when the sun crosses the equator from south to north making the day and night both an equal 12 hours, also called Ostara in pagan cultures.
Although it often falls in April, March is the month when Christians celebrate Easter, and the Jewish celebrate Passover. Christian faith observes Easter as the resurrection of Jesus.
For Catholics, Easter is also the end of Lent, which began on Ash Wednesday. According to the website Time and Date, in 325CE, the Council of Nicaea decided that Easter would be on the first Sunday after the first full moon occurring on or after the March equinox. Therefore, if the full moon occurs on Sunday, Easter is delayed one week, which lessens the likelihood of it falling on the same day as the Jewish Passover.
Of course, for many children, Easter is also a time for the Easter bunny and Easter egg hunts. Curiously, this Christian tradition can be traced back to Pagan roots and the celebration of Ostara, still honored today, is a celebration of the birth and rebirth of nature. The rabbit is a symbol of fertility, and eggs have always played a big role in the festivities of Ostara.
The website Green Organic World notes, “The Spring Equinox is celebrated with baskets and garlands of fresh flowers particularly lilies and daffodils. Seeds are gathered and prepared for planting. Eggs are a quintessential symbol of fertility, and decorated eggs hang from trees outside in pastel colors of yellow, pink, green, lavender, and blue. Holiday fare may include twisted bread, honey cakes, and devilled eggs.”
Passover also takes place during this time of the year, an eight-day long holiday in remembrance of the Jewish Exodus from Egypt. During Passover, Jews cannot eat leavened bread, only Matza, which is an unleavened, flat, and crispy bread prepared during this holiday.
According to the Huffington Post, there are a number of other spring festivals also celebrated around the world. A traditional Iranian or Persian New Year called Nowruz marks the first day of spring, taking place on or near the vernal equinox. This celebration includes spring-cleaning and Suri, the Iranian festival of fire in which participants jump over bonfires to symbolize light and good winning over darkness and bad.
Holi is a Hindu spring festival celebrated in India and Nepal. Participants light bonfires the day before the celebration, and people throw colored powder and water at each other during the celebration, also called the Festival of Colors.
According to Scholastic website, there is a Pakistani holiday called Basanth, where boys celebrate the first day of spring in the Muslim calendar with kite fighting contests. They put powdered glass on their strings and use them to try to cut the other boy’s kite strings. Whoever has the longest string wins. 
Songkran in Thailand is a three-day water festival from April 13 to 15 that marks the Buddhist New Year celebration. With parades on every street, statues of Buddha spray onlookers to mark the time of year, and people release fish into rivers as an act of kindness.
More spring festivals around the world include Higan, which is a week of Buddhist services observed in Japan during both the spring and autumn equinoxes. Higan means the “other shore” and refers to the spirits of the dead reaching Nirvana after crossing the river of existence. It is also a time to remember the dead by visiting, cleaning, and decorating their graves.
Green Organic World says, “Historically, spring celebrations around the time of the equinox have been celebrated throughout the world in many different cultures as an auspicious time of new beginnings. The spring equinox is a turning point in the wheel of the year. It is a time of rebirth, new life, and change. It is also a festival of fertility and resurrection.”
In May, midway between spring and summer, a holiday called Beltane is held on May 1. Beltane, celebrated as a fire festival, is the Gaelic word for May, and is a Celtic/Irish festival that marks the coming of the summer. Whereas, Ostara and the early spring festivals mark birth and rebirth, Beltane’s theme, according to Time and Date, is growth and ripening before the abundance and blooming of summer. A continuation of the quickening of energies that occurred with the spring equinox, it reflects the fact that nature is now fully awake, and the activated life energies visibly flow throughout the natural world. In many Western cultures, Beltane or May Day is celebrated with the lighting of bonfires, the herding of livestock out to pasture, and dancing around the Maypole.
Sources:
www.huffingtonpost.com
www.scholastic.com
www.timeanddate.com
www.green-organic-world.com