When is Easter?

🐣Godiva 18-piece finest chocolate Easter eggs

Below are the dates for Easter Sunday:

• 2024: Sunday, 31 March

• 2025: Sunday, 20 April

• 2026: Sunday, 5 April

• 2027: Sunday, 28 March

• 2028: Sunday, 16 April

• 2029: Sunday, 1 April

• 2030: Sunday, 21 April

• 2031: Sunday, 13 April

• 2032: Sunday, 28 March

• 2033: Sunday, 17 April

Please note that these dates are for Catholic Easter. The dates for Orthodox Easter can vary.

What is Easter?

Easter is a significant festival in the Christian church, celebrating the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. This event is believed to have occurred on the third day after his Crucifixion. The tradition of observing Easter dates back to the 2nd century.

The term “Easter” is thought to have originated from Eostre, or Eostrae, the Anglo-Saxon goddess of spring and fertility, according to an 8th-century theory by the Venerable Bede. However, it’s now widely accepted that the word comes from the Christian designation of Easter week as in albis, a Latin phrase. This phrase was understood as the plural of alba (“dawn”) and became eostarum in Old High German, which is the precursor of the modern term.

The Latin and Greek Pascha (“Passover”) is the root for Pâques, the French term for Easter. The date for observing and celebrating the Resurrection of Jesus was a major controversy in early Christianity, known as the Paschal controversies, which wasn’t definitively resolved until the 8th century.

Easter marks the joyful end to the Lenten season of fasting and penitence for many Christian churches. It’s typically the most well-attended Sunday church service of the year. Despite its religious significance, many of Easter’s customs have pagan associations and have been commercialized. For these reasons, many Christian churches prefer to refer to the holiday simply as Resurrection Day.