President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden celebrated Easter with the annual White House Easter Egg Roll on Monday April 18. The celebration was a sweet family occasion for all the estimated 30,000 kids and parents who came out and got to participate! Jill looked incredibly festive as she sported a deep purple coat over a pink floral arrangement, while welcoming families to the first Egg Roll since 2019. “Welcome to the Easter Egg Roll! The President and I are so excited that you are here,” she said, shortly before introducing her husband. “For generations, presidents and first ladies and kids just like you celebrated the Easter Egg Roll together. Racing and making crafts, reading books, and of course, meeting the Easter Bunny.”
In his brief remarks before kicking off the celebration, the President thanked everyone for attending a special day. “Jill and I are excited to have you at the White House. We weren’t able to host this Easter Egg Roll last year, because of the pandemic, but this year, we’re finally getting together again. It means so much to see and hear the children and all the families show up to be here today,” he said. “The joy and the laughter is something that’s been a wonderful tradition here at the White House for a long, long time.”
The egg roll is annual tradition but the 2022 celebration is the first time that it’s been held in two years after being cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Ahead of the celebration, the First Lady announced that the theme of the celebration was “Eggucation,” fitting given her long career as a teacher. Other than the egg roll at the start of the day, there are tons of other activities for kids and their families, including a talent show, an egg hunt, and other “eggucational” activities!
With the “Eggucation” theme, Jill spoke about how she hoped that the day was filled with both learning and joy. “There are so many fun opportunities to learn around us every day, and that’s especially true here at the White House,” she said. “Education never stops. The determined spirit of education is what we wanted to honor in this Easter Egg Roll. So, we turned the South Lawn into a school community. Today, we hope you learn by going to the reading nook, roll some eggs, and most of all, have fun!”
The traditional egg roll dates back to 1878. President Rutherford B. Hayes was the first leader to open the grounds of the White House for the celebration, per White House History. Different presidents have put their own spin on the tradition, like President Benjamin Harrison who first had music played at the 1889 celebration or President Ronald Reagan and First Lady Nancy Reagan who hid wooden eggs with celebrity autographs on them. Prior to 2020, the Egg Roll had been cancelled on a few occasions due to weather.
In more recent years, the egg rolls have seen the First Families celebrate Easter with tons of cute kids and their families. During President Barack Obama’s two terms, he could be seen cheering on youngsters rolling their eggs across the White House Lawn, as he attended with First Lady Michelle Obama and his daughters Malia and Sasha. President Donald Trump joined the tradition giving a speech from behind the presidential seal with the Easter Bunny nearby him. He could also be seen blowing a whistle to start the kids off on the egg roll.