Next: 28 to 29 Mar 2027
Easter
The feast of the resurrection: dawn services, painted eggs, hot cross buns and the end of Lent.
When is Easter in 2027?
Easter 2027 runs from 28 to 29 March 2027. Other years: 2026, 5 to 6 April 2026; 2028, 16 to 17 April 2028.
About Easter
Easter celebrates the resurrection of Jesus and is the central feast of the Christian year. It falls on the first Sunday after the first full moon of spring, so it moves between late March and late April. Many churches hold a vigil on Saturday night or a sunrise service on Sunday, lighting a new candle and greeting the day with "Christ is risen". Eggs, a sign of new life, are dyed, hidden for children to find, or rolled down hills. Bread and sweets carry local names: hot cross buns in Britain, colomba in Italy, mazurek in Poland and pinza in Trieste. Lamb is the traditional meal in much of Europe, and in the United States an Easter parade and egg hunt are part of the day.
Easter dates: 2026, 2027, 2028
| Year | Easter date |
|---|---|
| 2026 | 5 to 6 April 2026 |
| 2027 | 28 to 29 March 2027 |
| 2028 | 16 to 17 April 2028 |
What is eaten
- roast lamb
- hot cross buns
- colomba
- simnel cake
- eggs
Also part of it, and being written: Easter egg (The decorated egg of the season.), Paschal candle (The candle lit at the Easter vigil.), Easter Bunny (The egg-bringing hare of German origin.), Hot cross bun (The spiced bun of Good Friday.).
More marked on Easter
🇺🇸 United States and 3 moreFeast of the Ascension
A Christian holy day marking Jesus Christ's bodily ascent into Heaven, kept forty days after Easter.Spiritual
🇧🇲 Hamilton, BermudaGombey
A Bermudian masquerade of dance and drumming with African and British rootsPerformance
🇭🇹 Haiti and 1 moreRara
A Haitian street music of bamboo trumpets and drums, played in the Easter seasonPerformance
🇧🇲 BermudaBermuda kite
Flying bright geometric kites on Good Friday across Bermuda to mark EasterCraft
🇳🇬 NigeriaMmanwuMmanwụ
An Igbo masquerade tradition invoking ancestral spirits through masked performanceSpiritual
🇩🇲 Dominica and 4 moreBéléBèlè
A Caribbean drum, call-and-response song, and courtship dance traditionPerformance
🇪🇸 Santiago de Compostela, SpainBotafumeiro
A giant swinging censer of brass and silver that fills the Santiago de Compostela Cathedral with incense during solemn fSpiritual
🇺🇦 Kyiv, Ukraine and 7 morePysankaписанка
A wax-resist egg decorating tradition kept by Slavic communities for Easter and spring renewal.Festival
🇷🇴 Romania and 3 moreCălușariCălușarii
An acrobatic Romanian spring dance and ritual brotherhood tied to folklore and healingPerformance
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 5 moreEgg rolling
A spring game of rolling decorated hard-boiled eggs down hills or along lawnsGame
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 4 moreMummers' play
A comic folk drama of staged combat, death, and revival by an eccentric doctorPerformance
🇬🇷 GreeceMagiritsaΜαγειρίτσα
A Greek lamb offal soup eaten after the midnight Easter service to break the fastTable custom · Fasting and breaking the fast
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 5 moreAsh WednesdayDies Cinerum
A solemn Christian holy day of prayer, fasting, and the placing of ashesSpiritual · Fasting and breaking the fast
🇪🇹 Ethiopia and 1 moreFasikaፋሲካ
The celebration of Easter and the end of Lent across Ethiopia and EritreaSpiritual · Feasts and festival meals
🇲🇽 Tijuana, Mexico and 1 moreBirria
A rich, seasoned meat stew from western Mexico, cooked for gatherings and holidaysTable custom · Feasts and festival meals
🇩🇪 Saalfeld, Germany and 5 moreEaster egg treeOstereierbaum
A German springtime custom of dressing living trees and branches with blown eggsFestival
🇵🇱 Poland and 5 moreŚwięconka
The Polish Holy Saturday blessing of baskets filled with Easter morning foodSpiritual
🇭🇺 Hungary and 1 morePentecostπεντηκοστή (pentēkostē)
The Christian feast of the Holy Spirit, kept fifty days after EasterSpiritual
🇬🇷 Greece and 1 moreKoulourakiaΚουλουράκια
Sweet butter pastries baked for Greek Easter and shaped into rings and braidsTable custom · Sweets given and shared
🇷🇺 Moscow, Russia and 4 morePalm Sunday
A Christian Sunday feast marking Jesus's entry into Jerusalem with blessed branches.Spiritual
🇪🇨 Quito, EcuadorFanesca
Ecuador's Holy Week soup of grains, beans and salt cod, made for Good FridayTable custom · Lunch
🇪🇬 Egypt and 1 moreLentQuadragesima
Forty days of prayer, fasting and giving that lead Christians towards EasterSpiritual · Fasting and breaking the fast
🇪🇸 Seville, SpainSeville FairFeria de Abril de Sevilla
A week-long spring festival in Seville of carriage parades, marquee tents and dancingFestival · Dinner
🇮🇱 Israel and 5 moreHoly SaturdaySabbatum Sanctum
The closing day of Holy Week, a Saturday of waiting, fasting and vigil before EasterSpiritual
Written by the EveryParampara desk with AI assistance. Background: "Easter" on Wikipedia. Customs differ from place to place and family to family. If this is your tradition and we have it wrong, tell us.
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Pysanka: Lubap, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Călușari: El bes, CC BY 3.0, source
- Egg rolling: White House/Lawrence Jackson, Public domain, source
- Mummers' play: Aladjov, CC BY 3.0, source
- Święconka: Błażej Benisz, CC BY-SA 2.5, source
- Easter egg tree: Frank schubert, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Birria: Equipo 9mkt, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Magiritsa: Andrew Dalby, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Palm Sunday: Pietro Lorenzetti, Public domain, source
- Lent: Manuela Paki-Costa, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Seville Fair: Sevilla Congress & Convention Bureau, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Rara: Lombinodr Alfonso Lomba, CC BY 3.0, source
- Ash Wednesday: Oxh973, Public domain, source
- Mmanwu: Northcote Whitridge Thomas, Public domain, source
- Bermuda kite: Aodhdubh ( talk ), CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Pentecost: See The Holy Land, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Botafumeiro: Luis Miguel Bugallo Sánchez ( Lmbuga Commons )( Lmbuga Galipedia ), CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Gombey: Smithsonian Institution, No restrictions, source
- Feast of the Ascension: Gebhard Fugel, Public domain, source
- Koulourakia: foodistablog, CC BY 2.0, source
- Fanesca: Agencia de Noticias ANDES, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Holy Saturday: Anonymous Unknown author, Public domain, source