When Is Easter? Dates to 2035 & Easter Trivia

Western Easter Sunday in 2027 is March 28; most Orthodox churches celebrate on May 2, 2027. Easter does not have a fixed Gregorian date. The table covers 2026 through 2035, and the calculator lets you choose another year. Check which church calendar or country’s public-holiday schedule you need before making plans.

Western Easter is the Sunday after the ecclesiastical Paschal Full Moon that falls on or after March 21. The key words are ‘ecclesiastical’ and ‘Paschal’: this uses church calendar tables, not a fresh astronomical observation of the full moon over your town. The church’s equinox is fixed at March 21 even when the astronomical equinox falls on another date.

The Gregorian calculation keeps Western Easter between March 22 and April 25 inclusive. If the relevant tabular full moon falls on a Sunday, Easter is the following Sunday. Consequently a simple rule such as ‘the first Sunday after the first real full moon of spring’ can produce the wrong answer. The calculator implements the standard Gregorian computus rather than relying on a moon phase photograph.

Most Orthodox churches calculate Easter using the Julian paschal calendar. Their result is converted here to the Gregorian civil date so the two columns can be compared. Some Orthodox communities use a different approach, so the label is ‘most’, not ‘all’. Western and Orthodox dates can coincide: both fall on April 16 in 2028 and April 13 in 2031. One date is not automatically ‘the real Easter’ for every tradition.

Good Friday is two days before Easter Sunday. Easter Monday is the day after it. Whether either day is a public holiday depends on the jurisdiction; school holidays need not begin or end on the same dates. The table reports Easter Sunday, not a universal holiday entitlement or a school calendar. For a trip, consult the relevant government, employer or school rather than extrapolating an entire break from one religious date.