☽︎Sky and Signs

When is Easter?

Easter 2027 is on Sunday, 28 March 2027. The Orthodox churches celebrate on Sunday, 2 May 2027.

Easter to 2045

YearEaster SundayOrthodoxAsh WednesdayPentecost
20265 April 202612 April 202618 February 202624 May 2026
202728 March 20272 May 202710 February 202716 May 2027
202816 April 202816 April 20281 March 20284 June 2028
20291 April 20298 April 202914 February 202920 May 2029
203021 April 203028 April 20306 March 20309 June 2030
203113 April 203113 April 203126 February 20311 June 2031
203228 March 20322 May 203211 February 203216 May 2032
203317 April 203324 April 20332 March 20335 June 2033
20349 April 20349 April 203422 February 203428 May 2034
203525 March 203529 April 20357 February 203513 May 2035
203613 April 203620 April 203627 February 20361 June 2036
20375 April 20375 April 203718 February 203724 May 2037
203825 April 203825 April 203810 March 203813 June 2038
203910 April 203917 April 203923 February 203929 May 2039
20401 April 20406 May 204015 February 204020 May 2040
204121 April 204121 April 20416 March 20419 June 2041
20426 April 204213 April 204219 February 204225 May 2042
204329 March 20433 May 204311 February 204317 May 2043
204417 April 204424 April 20442 March 20445 June 2044
20459 April 20459 April 204522 February 204528 May 2045

How Easter is calculated

Easter is the first Sunday after the first full moon of spring. The Council of Nicaea decided in 325 that the feast should be kept on the same Sunday everywhere; the method of reckoning came with the Easter tables of Alexandria. The church does not reckon with the sky, though, but with tables: for it spring always begins on 21 March, and the full moon is a calculated church moon. That is why Easter always falls between 22 March and 25 April.

When the sky and the church disagree

Usually the table matches the real sky. In some years it does not: in 2019 spring began on 20 March, the full moon followed a few hours later on the 21st, and by the sky Easter would have been on 24 March. The church still counted the full moon of 20 March as winter's and celebrated on 21 April. In 1997 the World Council of Churches proposed at Aleppo to reckon by the real sky, measured at Jerusalem; it has not been adopted.

Yearby the skyby the church
199819 April 199812 April 1998
201924 March 201921 April 2019
203828 March 203825 April 2038
20452 April 20459 April 2045
204925 April 204918 April 2049
205725 March 205722 April 2057

Why the Orthodox usually celebrate later

The Orthodox churches use the same rule, but in the Julian calendar, now 13 days behind the Gregorian, and with the old church moon. Their Easter therefore falls on the same day, a week later or up to five weeks later. In the Gregorian calendar it lies between 4 April and 8 May.

Easter and Passover

According to the Gospels Jesus died at Passover time; so Easter still follows the spring full moon like Pesach, which begins on 15 Nisan, the night of the full moon. Since Nicaea, though, the church has reckoned independently of the Jewish calendar, and the two feasts often fall in different weeks. The Hebrew calendar

All feasts of a year

2026 · 2027 · 2028 · 2029 · 2030 · 2031 · 2032 · 2033 · 2034 · 2035

More: full moon dates

All dates are calculated: Easter by the Gregorian and the Julian Easter rule (checked for 1900 to 2100), the equinox and full moon from the orbits of the Sun and the Moon.