Feature: Egyptians celebrate Sham El-Nessim against grief over church attacks

Millions of Egyptians celebrated on Monday Sham El-Nessim, a national holiday marking the beginning of spring, in an attempt to overcome sadness inflicted by recent deadly church attacks.

Early in the morning, Muslims and Christians across the country flocked to public parks, beaches, zoos, outdoors greeneries and Nile cruises amid tight security imposed after the Palm Sunday twin bombings.

All Egyptians, regardless of their religions, beliefs or social classes, have been celebrating Sham El-Nessim, which literally means "smelling the breeze," since 2700 BC, with traditional seafood and picnics in parks.

The public holiday always falls on the day after the Easter Sunday in the Coptic Christian Calendar.

This year's celebrations, however, came a week after suicide attacks at two churches in the Delta province of Gharbiya and Alexandria province in northern Egypt, which killed at least 45 and injured 120 others.

"The nature of the Egyptian people is to love and enjoy the life, no matter what happens," said Moustafa Ahmad, a taxi driver as he enjoyed the holiday meal with his family at Cairo's renowned Azhar Park.

"In Egypt, this is the day when Muslims and Christians celebrate together. We experienced so many troubles, sorrow over the people we lost in the attacks. We will pass it together," Ahmad added.

"Shame El-Nessim is a restart for our life, and the terrorist attacks wouldn't frustrate its joy," he said.

The holiday's name is derived from Shamo, the harvest season for ancient Egyptians, which means the day of renewal of life.

The foods consumed on Shamo are still eaten today. Lettuce and malana-green chickpea shoots, which symbolize the resurgence of life, became plentiful during the receding of the past annual Nile flooding.

Packing a bag of colored eggs, fesikh (pickled mullet fish) and green onions, Hoda Adel, a housewife, was spreading a sheet under a tree to avoid the strong sunlight.

"Sham El-Nessim is a special occasion where I can see my relatives and friends enjoy, eat and breathe clean air," Adel said.

"My Coptic friend will come soon with her family, so we can share the food together. Nothing would affect Egyptians' high spirits," the lady added.

"You can smell the salted fish everywhere. The day with its traditions is part of Egypt's identity," she said.

The Giza Zoo, which opens to public for free, received 83,000 visitors on the national holiday.

Along the Nile Cornish, the police deployed were doing security checks.

"I feel secured, police is everywhere eying the violations," said Amal Waheeb, a 52-year-old teacher while standing in a long queue for a cruise with her daughters.

Sayed Abdel Galel, who works for a clothing shop, also said the day brings back happy memories as people were celebrating the beginning of spring and enjoying the gathering of friends and relatives.

"It is part of our memories and upbringing that dates back to our ancestors, and I want to deepen old traditional festivals in my kids' minds," he said. Endit