Holiday guide
Easter Guide
Easter is a Christian festival focused on resurrection, hope and renewal. In Western churches its date changes each year; in 2027, Easter Sunday falls on March 28. Communities may begin with Holy Week and continue through Easter Sunday and the wider season.
What is Easter?
What is Easter?
Easter is the central Christian feast commemorating the resurrection of Jesus. In many traditions it is also called Pascha.
It is a movable feast, so Easter Sunday does not have one fixed Gregorian date. Holy Week and the Easter Vigil form part of the wider observance in many churches.
Calendar differences
Calendar differences
Western and Eastern churches may reach different Sundays because calendar references and calculation traditions differ, including Gregorian and Julian implications. Nicaea in 325 addressed common Paschal observance but did not invent Easter or publish every later technical detail.
Holy Week and today
Holy Week and today
Holy Week leads into Easter Sunday. Churches may mark services and vigils alongside family meals or secular customs; detailed bunny, egg and regional-food history belongs in child pages.
Easter in practice
How Easter is observed today
Easter Sunday is the center of a wider season. Holy Week may include Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and the Easter Vigil before Easter morning. The form differs by church, but the central Christian meaning is the celebration of Jesus resurrection.
Modern observance can combine worship with family meals, visits, music and community events. Eggs can represent new life and were restricted during parts of the pre-Easter fast in some traditions. The Easter Bunny is a later cultural figure, not a universal Christian symbol.
Explore Easter History, Easter Traditions, Easter Food, Easter Symbols and Easter Around the World.
Date and season
Why Easter moves and how Holy Week fits
Western Easter is calculated as a Sunday in March or April through an ecclesiastical calendar rule related to the spring equinox and the Paschal full moon. It is not simply the first astronomical full moon after the equinox, which is why a calendar explanation is more useful than treating Easter as a fixed spring holiday.
Holy Week gives the date its immediate setting. It begins with Palm Sunday and leads through the remembrance of the Last Supper and crucifixion to Easter Sunday. Churches observe those days differently, and some Eastern and Western communities reach different Easter Sundays. The parent guide can explain that relationship; Easter History gives the longer historical development.
Questions
Easter FAQ
Why does Easter change date every year?
Easter is a movable feast. Churches use an ecclesiastical Paschal calculation related to the spring equinox, a full moon and Sunday rather than a fixed Gregorian date.
What did the Council of Nicaea do about Easter?
The Council of Nicaea in 325 addressed the need for a common Paschal observance and calendrical principles. It did not invent Easter or publish every technical detail of later calculations.
Why can Western and Eastern Easter fall on different dates?
Different calendar references and calculation traditions, including Gregorian and Julian implications, can lead churches to different Paschal Sundays.
What is Pascha?
Pascha is a traditional name for the Christian Easter feast in many Eastern and other Christian traditions.
What does Easter Sunday commemorate?
Easter Sunday commemorates the resurrection of Jesus and is the central celebration of the Christian Easter season.
Explore Easter