If we turn back to Exodus 12, we can read about the institution of the Passover feast. This feast is a way for the people to participate in and commemorate God delivering the Israelites from slavery in Egypt, by means of the plague of the firstborn. The Angel of Death passed over any house which had the blood of the lamb spread upon the door posts. By this, God "knew" his own people, and spared them from his wrath.
The political and religious leaders must have figured that Jesus would travel to Jerusalem for the feast, and that being there, he would draw a lot of attention. It seems they thought that he wouldn't be too hard to find. They gave orders that anyone who knew where he was should tell them, so that they could arrest him.
Many people would travel from all the towns and villages, and even from all over the known world, to celebrate the Passover. All the feasts were important to the Israelites, but especially this one. If you look at the Psalms, you will see some marked as Psalms for singing when going to Jerusalem for a feast, and Psalms for singing when leaving Jerusalem after a feast. This gives you a little bit of an idea about people's religious practices, and the joy that usually came along with celebrating what God had done for His people.
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