Feature: Easter fun at egg-knocking tournament in Serbian village

Hundreds of people were attracted to the village of Mokrin in Serbia Sunday to take part in the World Tournament of Egg-Knocking, a tradition for the Orthodox Easter.

In many parts of Serbia, visitors bring chicken eggs and compete against their family members or friends -- a tradition that is observed in Serbia for the Easter. However, people are fond of celebrating Easter in Mokrin, the only place in Serbia where the tradition of egg-knocking became a competition since 1990.

The tournament started in the early morning on Sunday and competitors of both juniors and seniors entered the qualifications.

At the start of each game, judges would knock chicken eggs against their teeth to testify their authenticity. Two competitors enter the game and knock chicken eggs. Owner of the unbroken egg gets a new opponent.

Milan Mihajlovic, a pensioner from Bosnia and Herzegovina, claimed the title of this year's tournament of the senior group. The chicken egg he boiled cracked those from his opponents throughout the morning.

Mihajlovic, who participated the tournament for the second time, said his secret of winning was all about picking up the right egg.

"It should be roundish, big and strong, but there is no guarantee. One also needs luck", Mihajlovic said, adding that there is no tip in the knocking technique or the boiling time.

To prove that there is no trick in the match, the winning egg was cut into two halves after the final. One half was eaten by Mihajlovic, and the other by the main judge.

Some 130 people registered for the competition, and only 16 made it to the finals around noon, according to the organizer, Dragoljub Badrljica.

Egg-knocking tournament is only part of the Easter celebrations in the 11-day holiday in Mokrin this year.

In Mokrin, as part of the religious celebrations of Easter, women would dye and decorate eggs. The must-have color for an egg is red, which symbolizes life, while other colors are optional.

Some 600 eggs were painted in colors of red and blue and decorated by shapes of leaves this year. They were taken to the village municipal building by two horse carriages.

Other local celebrations for Easter include a horse parade organized by the local equestrian club, an exhibition of eggs decorated by children, presentations of local traditions and customs by connoisseurs, and singing of children choirs. Enditem