The lack of wind was not kind to kite flyers but residents got into the Easter spirit as they gathered across the island to celebrate Good Friday.

At Horseshoe Bay, Karla Aitken and her friend Kirsten Bruun invited passers-by for fishcakes and a drink at the sculpted sand “bar” they create every year to mark the festivities.

“I’ve made friends all over the world this way,” Ms Bruun said as guests from countries as diverse as Jamaica and Denmark sat down for a free snack.

“Every time Good Friday comes around, they will call me if they can’t make it.”

It was a perfect day for the outdoors, with bright skies and lots of sun. The two friends normally spend a few hours digging and shaping their cubby in the sand for their traditional beach picnic.

Over the years, their generosity with food and beverages to the many who accept their hospitality has gradually attracted the attention of the Bermuda Tourism Authority.

“We had help from friends this year,” Ms Bruun added, handing a fishcake to one of their impromptu guests.

Ms Aitken added: “It’s a donation in the Easter spirit.”

Their home-grown tradition was inspired by a creative Facebook post nearly ten years ago.

At Horseshoe Bay, hundreds of people were out for the traditional kite-flying gathering — which many marked by taking to the ocean, when the breeze failed to lift their kites.

Hannah Emmerson and her boyfriend Mikal Thomas, both champions of the Bermuda Sand Castle competition, got in the spirit with an Easter bunny shaped from sand.

“I was hoping there would be more kites, but not in this wind,” Ms Emmerson said, helping 12-year-old Eliana Pinardi with her sand creation.

“I try to build something every weekend. Last weekend at Elbow Beach it was two giant kites. This weekend we’re here.”

The long religious holiday has local traditions that have dwindled over the years: neighbourhood championships with marbles, for example.

For Ms Emmerson, Good Friday is about “kites and family”.

“It’s a nostalgic Bermuda tradition from when you’re little and flying kites is the best thing in the world,” she said.

“Your dad would help you make it; you get to see it going up, and the beach is the best place for that.”

Along the length of the island, in yards, parks, clubs and beaches from St George’s to Dockyard, Good Friday parties and community gatherings brought people out for a day of sunshine and, for some, the first swim of the year — waters being just under 65F (18C).

At St David’s County Cricket Club, the festivities honouring the memory of longstanding president Gilbert Lamb have grown over more than 20 years into one of the main attractions of the day.

Along with codfish cakes and hot cross buns, kites are the quintessentially Bermudian commemoration of Good Friday — whether the store-bought plastic variety, or the kaleidoscopic traditional models with coloured tissue paper and wooden frames.