List of dates for Easter

Table of (Gregorian) dates of Easter 2015–2030[1]
YearFull MoonJewish Passover [note 1]Astronomical Easter [note 2]Gregorian EasterJulian Easter

2015April 4April 5April 12
2016March 23April 23March 27May 1
2017April 11April 16
2018March 31April 1April 8
2019March 20April 20March 24April 21April 28
2020April 8April 9April 12April 19
2021March 28April 4May 2
2022April 16April 17April 24
2023April 6April 9April 16
2024March 25April 23March 31May 5
2025April 13April 20
2026April 3April 2April 5April 12
2027March 22April 22March 28May 2
2028April 9April 11April 16
2029March 29March 31April 1April 8
2030April 17April 18April 21April 28

  1. ^ Jewish Passover is on Nisan 15 of its calendar. It commences at sunset preceding the date indicated (as does Easter by some traditions).
  2. ^ Astronomical Easter is the first Sunday after the astronomical full moon after the astronomical March equinox as measured at the meridian of Jerusalem according to this WCC proposal.

This is a list of dates for Easter. The Easter dates also affect when Ash Wednesday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Holy Saturday, the Feast of the Ascension and Pentecost occur in a given year. Easter may occur on different dates in the Gregorian Calendar (Western) and the Julian Calendar (Orthodox or Eastern). The accompanying table provides both sets of dates, for recent and forthcoming years—see the computus article for more details on the calculation.

Earliest Easter

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Western (Gregorian)

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In 1818 the Paschal Full Moon fell on Saturday, March 21 (the equinox). Therefore, the following day, March 22 and the 81st day of the year, was Easter. It will not fall as early again until 2285, a span of 467 years.The next earliest Easter, March 23, in that timespan occurred in 1845, 1856, 1913, and 2008. Easter will next occur on March 23 in 2160. These are gaps of 11, 57, 95 and 152 years.

The earliest week by international standard reckoning is W12, and the 12th Sunday of the year is also the earliest possible Easter Sunday.

Orthodox (Julian)

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The earliest dates for Easter in the Eastern Orthodox Church between 1875 and 2099 are April 4, 1915 and April 4, 2010 (Gregorian). Both dates are equivalent to 22 March in the Julian Calendar.

Latest Easter

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Western (Gregorian)

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In 1943 Easter fell on Sunday, April 25, the 115th day of the year. The last ecclesiastical full moon preceding the Paschal did not occur until March 20; prior to March 21, the fixed date to which the vernal equinox is assigned for the purposes of the computus, meaning the Paschal full moon did not happen until Sunday, April 18. Consequently, Easter was the following Sunday, April 25. Easter will next occur as late again in 2038—a span of 95 years. Easter may also occur on April 25 of a leap year, i.e. the 116th day of the year, but this has never occurred since the Gregorian reforms were implemented. The first time Easter will occur on April 25 in a leap year will be in 3784. This is also the only case where Easter is in ISO week W17, otherwise all occurrences after April 18 and on this day in leap years are in W16. In several cases, Easter falls onto the latest possible, 17th Sunday of the year. The first time that Easter will fall on April 24 in a leap year will be in 4292 which is also the 115th day of the year.

The second latest date for Easter, April 24 or day 114, occurred in 2011. The last time this occurred before was in 1859 and it will not happen again until 2095—spans of 152 and 84 years. Easter also occurred on the 114th day of the year on April 23 in 2000, a leap year.

Orthodox (Julian)

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The latest dates for Orthodox Easter between 1875 and 2099 are May 8, 1983, and May 8, 2078 (Gregorian). Both dates are equivalent to April 25 in the Julian Calendar. Orthodox Easter has never fallen on Gregorian May 7 yet; it will happen in 2051 unless these churches change to another calendar.

Beginning March 14, 2100 (February 29, 2100, in the Julian Calendar), the difference between the Julian and Gregorian calendars will increase to 14 days.

Western and Orthodox Easter on the same date

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Despite using calendars that are apart by 13 days, Western Easter and Orthodox Easter occasionally fall on the same date, as happened in 2010, 2011, 2014, and 2017. For example, according to the Western (Gregorian) calendar, the first Paschal Full Moon after the Spring Equinox (March 21) fell on Monday, April 14, 2014. The following Sunday, April 20, was, therefore, Easter Day.

According to the Orthodox (Julian) calendar (which is 13 days behind the Gregorian calendar), the Spring Equinox also falls on March 21. However, in the Gregorian Calendar, this is April 3. The first Orthodox Full Moon after the Equinox falls on (Julian) Tuesday, April 2, 2014 (Gregorian April 15). The following Sunday, (Julian) April 7, is, therefore, Easter Day (Gregorian April 20).

Range of dates for Western and Orthodox Easter

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Both calendars (Gregorian and Julian) calculate Easter as falling on dates between March 22 and April 25 on their calendars. However, because of the current 13-day difference, Western Easter falls between March 10 and April 12 on the Julian calendar. Conversely, Orthodox Easter falls between April 4 and May 8 on the Gregorian calendar.

The possible dates of Easter depend on the first day of the year and hence its dominical letter. Each type has five possible dates of Easter. Note that some feasts that depend on the date of Easter (may) occur before the leap day, e.g. Shrove Monday.

Possible dates of Easter by type of year
DL1 January1 MarchSundays in range
ASundayWednesday26 March, 2, 9, 16, 23 April
BASaturday
BTuesday27 March, 3, 10, 17, 24 April
CBFriday
CMonday28 March, 4, 11, 18, 25 April
DCThursday
DSunday22, 29 March, 5, 12, 19 April
EDWednesday
ESaturday23, 30 March, 6, 13, 20 April
FETuesday
FFriday24, 31 March, 7, 14, 21 April
GFMonday
GThursday25 March, 1, 8, 15, 22 April
AGSunday

Sundays on the dates March 22 through April 25 in the Gregorian calendar may be the 81st through 115th day of common years or 82nd through 116th day of leap years. They occur as the last day of ISO week number W12 through W17 and are also the 12th through 17th Sunday of the year, but these numbers mismatch in some years.

Occurrences, weeks and ordinal Sundays of the 35 Gregorian Easter dates
VariantEaster SundayCountLatest[2]Next[2]DoYWeekSunday
1March 22418182285081W1212th
1*02972082
2March 23219132600
2*520082160083
3March 24117992391
3*119405280084
4March 25719512035
4*0379208513th
5March 261219892062
5*117802084086
6March 27920052157
6*620162236087
7March 28619372027
7*419482032088W13
8March 29919702043
8*319642116089
9March 301419972059
9*02092090
10March 311620132086
10*420242176091
11April 11020182029
11*61956204009214th
12April 2919612051
12*519722056093
13April 3819942067
13*519882140094
14April 41320212083
14*119202488095W14
15April 51520152026
15*318962048096
16April 61219692042
16*519802064097
17April 7819852075
17*519962080098
18April 8820072091
18*62012216409915th
19April 9920232034
19*119442884100
20April 101619772039
20*02072101
21April 111519932066
21*420042088102W15
22April 121120092093
22*520202172103
23April 13819412031
23*419522036104
24April 141019742047
24*419682120105
25April 151420012063
25*0209610616th
26April 161720172090
26*318762028107
27April 171020222033
27*619602044108
28April 18919652049
28*519762060109W16
29April 19919872071
29*519922076110
30April 201120142025
30*119242864111
31April 211420192030
31*116802052112
32April 22819732057
32*51984206811317th
33April 23119052079
33*420002152114
34April 24520112095
34*04292115
35April 25419432038
35*03784116W17

(Variants with an asterisk * are in leap years.)

Public holidays

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In Hungary, Kenya, the United Kingdom (except Scotland), Hong Kong, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Slovakia, Germany, Serbia, Sweden, Switzerland Namibia, Malawi, Botswana, Zambia and Zimbabwe, Easter has two public holidays, Good Friday and Easter Monday, making a four-day weekend. The movable date of Easter sometimes brings it into conflict with other, fixed or moveable, public holidays.

  • In the United Kingdom in 2000 and 2011, the May Day bank holiday was one week after Easter Monday, causing there to be three consecutive weeks with a bank holiday. (In Scotland this did not occur as Easter Monday is not a bank holiday.) In 2011, a bank holiday was declared on Friday 29 April for the wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton;[3] consequently there were four bank holidays within three consecutive calendar weeks (including two in one week), creating two consecutive four-day weekends (Friday 22 – Monday 25 April and Friday 29 April – Monday 2 May), with a three-day working week in between (Tuesday 26 – Thursday 28 April).
  • In Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland in 2008, Saint Patrick's Day (Monday 17 March) fell six days before Easter (Sunday 23 March), creating a three-day week (Tuesday 18 – Thursday 20 March). This will next happen in 2035, when Saint Patrick's Day falls on Saturday, so the public holiday is moved forward to the following Monday 19 March, again six days before Easter.
    • In the Catholic liturgical calendar, saints' feasts are not observed when they fall during Holy Week; this caused Saint Patrick not to appear in the liturgical calendar for 2008; 17 March was simply celebrated as Holy Monday. In Ireland, the Church chose to celebrate Saint Patrick on Saturday 15 March instead.[4]
  • In Australia and New Zealand, ANZAC Day is a public holiday on 25 April. In 2000 and 2011, this created a five-day weekend over Easter: in 2000, Easter Monday fell on 24 April, with the following Tuesday, 25 April, then being ANZAC Day; in 2011, ANZAC Day and Easter Monday coincided on Monday 25 April, which led to a substitute public holiday being declared in Australia for Tuesday 26 April,[5] and likely contributed to New Zealand's introduction of Mondayising legislation in 2013. In 2003 and 2014, ANZAC Day fell on the Friday after Easter, and in 2019 it fell on the Thursday after Easter, and in 2038 it will fall on Easter Sunday; the consequence is three-day working weeks immediately following the Easter weekend.
  • In Hong Kong in 2021, Easter Sunday (4 April) coincided with the Ching Ming (Qingming) Festival, leading to public holidays on Monday 5 April (the day after Ching Ming) and Tuesday 6 April (the day after Easter Monday), and a five-day weekend (Friday 2 – Tuesday 6 April).[6]
  • In Serbia in 2024, Easter holidays will be immediately preceded by Labour Day which is observed on 1 May and 2 May, creating a six-day weekend (Wednesday 1 May - Monday 6 May).[7]
  • Easter is not a federal holiday in the United States. In North Carolina, however, it was a public holiday from 1935 to 1987.[8]
  • In Denmark and Norway, Easter is celebrated with public holidays on the Maundy Thursday and Good Friday before, and Easter Monday, but schools and businesses traditionally have a half-day on the Wednesday as well.

References

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  1. ^ "Towards a Common Date for Easter". Aleppo, Syria: World Council of Churches (WCC) / Middle East Council of Churches Consultation (MECC). 10 March 1997.
  2. ^ a b Robert H. van Gent. "Easter Sunday Frequencies". Perpetual Easter and Passover Calculator.
  3. ^ "Royal Wedding Bank Holiday in the United Kingdom". Archived from the original on 2017-04-15. Retrieved 2017-04-15.
  4. ^ "Irish bishops move St. Patrick's Day 2008 over conflict with Holy Week". Catholic News Agency. July 19, 2007. Archived from the original on April 6, 2021. Retrieved April 1, 2018.
  5. ^ "National Holidays in Australia in 2021". Office Holidays. January 2021. Archived from the original on 2021-07-31. Retrieved 2021-05-31.
  6. ^ "GovHK: General holidays for 2021". GovHK (www.gov.hk). Archived from the original on 2021-06-12. Retrieved 2021-05-31.
  7. ^ "Koji su neradni dani za 1. maj i Uskrs?". Danas.rs (in Serbian). Retrieved April 29, 2024.
  8. ^ "Easter Monday in the United States". TimeAndDate.com. Archived from the original on December 11, 2016. Retrieved October 25, 2016.
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