Dyngus Day’s festivities are rooted in spring festivals that, in turn, are rooted in fertility rites as old as humanity. “Maybe even older,” said Hex Kleinmarten, lecturer in anthropology and a scholar of ancient customs, many of which persist to this day. “Spring is mating season for many species of birds and animals, too.” Dyngus Day is celebrated on the day after Easter Sunday.

Easter itself, according to Kleinmartin, was scheduled to fall on the first Sunday after the first full moon after the spring equinox to distance the Christian holiday from the pre-Christian celebrations that typically took place on one of the four major solar events—the equinoxes and solstices—or on the cross-quarter days that fall halfway between them.

Dyngus Day lore includes the custom of young men splashing young women with water, and young women striking young men with pussy willow branches. Or maybe it’s the other way round; the history of the tradition has several different explanations.
“In any case,” said Kleinmarten, “water is a universal symbol of life, and pussy willows are one of the earliest plants to bloom in spring.” The soft furry catkin is actually a flower.

The Easter symbols themselves celebrate the new life of spring, according to Kleinmarten. “Eggs are an almost universal symbol of life,” he said, “and it’s hard to think of any animal that represents fertility as much as the rabbit does.”
The Dyngus Day celebration is as ancient a celebration as Halloween, and both are tied to agriculture. “Halloween marks the end of the growing season,” said Kleinmartin, “and Eastertime marks the beginning. Dyngus Day just gives us a chance to celebrate new life without the constraints of modern religious observation. Anybody heading to the Buffalo Central Terminal on Dyngus Day can attest to that!”