Good Friday

About Good Friday

Good Friday remembers the crucifixion of Jesus and is among the most solemn days of the Christian year. Churches are bare, services are quiet, with the reading of the Passion and the veneration of the cross. Many people fast or eat no meat. Processions, with bearers carrying statues and with penitents, take place in Spain, Malta, Italy and Latin America, and the Via Crucis is performed on the street. In the Philippines, some communities stage the Passion in the town. In England, hot cross buns, marked with a cross, are eaten, and in many places fish is the meal of the day. In the Orthodox church, an embroidered cloth, the epitaphios, is carried in procession around the church at night.

Good Friday dates: 2026, 2027, 2028

What is eaten

• hot cross buns
• fish
• bacalao

Traditions of Good Friday

Stations of the CrossThe devotion walking through the Passion.

More marked on Good Friday

🇵🇭 Philippines and 5 moreHoly WeekἉγία καὶ Μεγάλη Ἑβδομάς The solemn seven days leading to Easter, recalling the final week and Passion of JesusSpiritual · Fasting and breaking the fast 🇪🇸 Seville, SpainHoly Week in SevilleSemana Santa de Sevilla A week of solemn processions and floats through the streets of Seville to mark the Passion of Christ.Spiritual 🇧🇲 BermudaBermuda kite Flying bright geometric kites on Good Friday across Bermuda to mark EasterCraft 🇵🇭 Marinduque, PhilippinesMoriones Festival A Holy Week reenactment in Marinduque where masked participants search for the Roman centurion Longinus.Festival 🇵🇭 Manila, PhilippinesPasyon A Tagalog epic of Christ's passion, chanted without a break during Holy WeekSpiritual 🇪🇸 Seville, SpainHoly Week in SpainSemana Santa Annual Catholic penitential processions across Spain featuring floats, robes and music to mark the Passion of Christ.Spiritual 🇮🇹 Italy and 5 moreEasterΠάσχα The day Christians mark the resurrection, kept with vigils, feasts and eggsSpiritual · Feasts and festival meals 🇪🇹 Ethiopia and 1 moreFasikaፋሲካ The celebration of Easter and the end of Lent across Ethiopia and EritreaSpiritual · Feasts and festival meals 🇮🇳 India and 4 moreProstration Bowing the whole body to the ground, in prayer and as a sign of respectSpiritual 🇲🇽 Mexico City, MexicoPassion Play of Iztapalapa A community passion play staged across Iztapalapa during Holy WeekSpiritual 🇵🇭 Manila, PhilippinesHoly Week in the PhilippinesMahal na Araw An eight-day observance of the Passion, death, and resurrection of Christ in the Philippines.Spiritual 🇵🇸 Jericho, PalestineNabi Musaٱلنَّبِي مُوْسَى An annual Palestinian Muslim pilgrimage and festival honoring the prophet MosesSpiritual · Feasts and festival meals 🇪🇨 Quito, EcuadorFanesca Ecuador's Holy Week soup of grains, beans and salt cod, made for Good FridayTable custom · Lunch 🇬🇧 London, United KingdomRoyal Maundy A Church of England service where the monarch gives silver Maundy coins to older peopleSpiritual 🇬🇹 Antigua Guatemala, GuatemalaHoly Week in GuatemalaSemana Santa Street processions of floats, purple-robed penitents and sawdust carpets in GuatemalaSpiritual