Easter is one of the few holidays that won’t stay put. It can be in March one year and late April the next, which makes it hard to plan around without checking.
Choose Western or Orthodox and you’ll get the right Sunday.
How to use the Easter Countdown#
- Check the date. Easter moves every year.
- Choose what to count to. Choose between Western churches (Catholic and Protestant) or Orthodox churches.
- Plan around it. The weekday and the weeks left are listed, so you can see at once how it fits your week.
Why Easter moves around#
The rule goes back to the early church. Easter falls on the Sunday after the first full moon on or after the spring equinox, which the church fixes at 21 March for this purpose. Because the moon is involved, the date shifts. The earliest possible Western date is 22 March and the latest is 25 April.
The Orthodox churches follow the same idea but use the older Julian calendar, which is currently 13 days behind the Gregorian one. That’s why Orthodox Easter is often a week or five weeks after the Western date. Every so often the two line up, as they did in 2025.
The weeks around Easter#
A lot of dates hang off Easter. Ash Wednesday is 46 days before it, Palm Sunday is a week before, and Good Friday is two days before. Easter Monday is a public holiday in many countries, including Nigeria, where Good Friday and Easter Monday are both observed. Pentecost falls 49 days after Easter Sunday.
If you’re booking travel, remember that the long weekend is Good Friday to Easter Monday, and prices tend to rise once the dates are public.
When is Easter in the next few years?#
Easter moves every year. Western churches celebrate it on the first Sunday after the first full moon on or after 21 March, so it can fall anywhere from 22 March to 25 April. Orthodox Easter is worked out on the Julian calendar and usually lands a week or more later.
| Year | Date | Day of the week |
|---|---|---|
| Western churches (Catholic and Protestant) | ||
| 2027 | 28 March | Sunday |
| 2028 | 16 April | Sunday |
| 2029 | 1 April | Sunday |
| 2030 | 21 April | Sunday |
| 2031 | 13 April | Sunday |
| Orthodox churches | ||
| 2027 | 2 May | Sunday |
| 2028 | 16 April | Sunday |
| 2029 | 8 April | Sunday |
| 2030 | 28 April | Sunday |
| 2031 | 13 April | Sunday |
Counting the weeks around Easter 2027#
Western Easter in 2027 falls on Sun 28 March 2027. Lent begins on Ash Wednesday, Wed 10 February 2027. Palm Sunday is Sun 21 March 2027, Good Friday Fri 26 March 2027 and Easter Monday Mon 29 March 2027. Orthodox Easter in 2027 comes later, on Sun 2 May 2027, five weeks after the Western date.
The two dates match in some years. They did so in 2025 and will again in 2028 and 2031.
How the date is calculated#
The method of working out Easter is called the computus. The church defined the spring equinox as 21 March and used a table of the moon’s cycles in place of watching the sky, so the date is the same everywhere. The mathematician Carl Friedrich Gauss published a formula for it in 1800, and it is still the basis of many calendar programs. Western Easter can fall as early as 22 March, as it did in 1818, and as late as 25 April, as it will in 2038.
What it means for your calendar#
Many school holidays, public holidays and sporting fixtures depend on Easter. Good Friday and Easter Monday are public holidays in Nigeria and much of the Commonwealth. Pentecost, 49 days after Easter, and the Ascension, 39 days after, also move. If you manage a team, plan leave early, since Easter weekends and the school breaks around them are popular.
Frequently asked questions#
The date appears in the result as soon as you open the page. It changes every year, so the calculator works it out for you.
For Western churches, 22 March at the earliest and 25 April at the latest.
Orthodox churches calculate it with the Julian calendar, which runs 13 days behind the Gregorian calendar used by Western churches.
Easter is defined as the first Sunday after the first full moon on or after 21 March. The moon’s cycle does not line up with the calendar, so the date moves between 22 March and 25 April. The rule goes back to the early church and the council of Nicaea in 325.