This may look like some kind of strange religious worship of the Tree... But it's just an old singing game involving imitating certain movements (connected with everyday tasks - although some of them feel kind of outdated now by modern standard... like washing clothes by hand...).
I looked up the game to check its origin and found that it's actually originally British, and then called "Here we go round a mulberry bush". I think in Swedish we use a slightly different melody, and we say "juniper bush" - but on this occasion, they had replaced it with "Easter tree"!
In old traditions here, Easter Eve was a night to watch out for witches and other evil forces at work... (being the night before Christ rose from the dead). From that has also sprung traditions to light bonfires and fireworks at night to keep evil away; and (more playfully) for children to dress up as witches. No doubt the traditions still vary throughout our oblong country. But they also change with time. In my childhood, and in this part of Sweden, bonfires and fireworks were still common at Easter. From early childhood, I remember dressing up as Easter witch at my paternal grandparents' house, and dad also lighted a few fireworks in their garden at night. Nowadays, the big fireworks night is New Year's Eve, and bonfire night is Walpurgis Night (April 30th). But you may still see a few little witches - and other strange creatures! - around at Easter...
Have to say this chicken (leading the dance games) looked a lot scarier to me than the cute little witches that could also be spotted here and there in the crowd...
