White House Easter Egg Roll celebrations (PHOTOS)

An annual event, the Easter Egg Roll was celebrated at the White House on Monday, with President Barack Obama taking part in the festivities by reading to children and playing tennis and basketball.

The theme for the 133rd annual celebration was Get Up and Go and around 30,000 visitors participated in the egg roll hosted by the Obama family in the South Lawn.

As per an undocumented tradition, the celebration of the event is said to have started in 1814 when Dolley Madison, the wife of President James Madison invited hundreds of children to participate in games on the grounds of the United States Capitol.

However, a law passed later by the Congress made it illegal to use the grounds as a children's playground. At the request of a number of children, including his own, the then President Rutherford B. Hayes and his wife Lucy Hayes brought the event to the White House lawns.

The Obamas hosted their first White House Easter Egg Roll on April 13, 2009 where the theme of the event was Let's go play.

The President started the festivities from the Truman balcony of the White House and then later greeted guests and read to the children with First Lady Michelle Obama.

Start the slideshow to catch glimpse of the festivities: