Easter egg hunts are pretty big in France, with all sorts of events being held in their chateaux and gardens. But one of the best Easter egg hunts I’ve ever seen didn’t involve chocolate. Can you actually believe I said that? It was the Rockefeller egg hunt in New York in 2014, and it was basically a project where local businesses, brands, schools, fashion designers and artists were all given a giant Easter egg to decorate, and they were on display throughout the Rockefeller centre and gardens.

Prior to their display at the Rockefeller Center the eggs had been hidden among the streets of NYC in all five boroughs. They were brought together at the famous location to be displayed before they all went on auction for between $500-$360,000 dollars.

The money raised went to two differentl charities, Studio in a School which is a NYC student arts organisation, and Elephant Family, whichever is a UK charity dedicated to the protection of the endangered Asian Elephant.

The eggs drew in a lot of attention with people posing for photographs with them. Here’s some of my favourites.

Lady Liberty – probably the one that got the most attention, given the location!

Banksy – this one was my favourite.

Runny egg – I thought this one was very creative, it was a runny egg but the outline of the drips made the Manhattan skyline.

A yellow cab – the New York theme was definitely a public favourite.

Humpty Dumpty – he was sat in the gardens in prime spot.

Two grafiti and paint style eggs, that replicated so much of the grafiti and street art that you see all over the city.

There were a couple of food style ones, the best being the watermelon and the avocado.

Virgin contributed with a branded egg of their own as well.

There were also many jewelled eggs about, and this trend came from the ornate eggs that were given as gifts centuries ago by Russian jeweller Faberge. The jewellery company actually sponsored the event so a lot of the artists took their inspiration from the luxury sponsors.

I think trails and hunts like this are a great charity initiative, the Rockefeller egg hunt raised over $1 million for its causes. It’s also a great way for artists and designers to get themselves known. We had our own in the North East last year with the Great North Snowdogs. But as far as Easter eggs go these are the fanciest I’ve ever seen.

Which is your favourite?!

For other great cities to visit around Easter and April time check out:

10 reasons to love Paris in Spring

Easter city breaks 

London Houses that look like Easter treats