Easter 2017: When Is Easter Weekend? Dates For Good Friday ...

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Top 10 facts about Easter

When is Easter weekend 2017 and when are the school holidays?

Easter weekend is from Friday April 14 until Monday April 17. Many workers will enjoy a four day-weekend thanks to bank holidays on Good Friday and Easter Monday.

Most schools will break up for the Easter holidays on Friday March 31, and return on Monday April 17.

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Parents should check the Government’s school term and holiday dates checker for details of individual school’s term times.

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When is Easter Sunday 2017?

This year Easter Sunday will be celebrated on April 16.

The date changes each year and is dictated by the lunar calendar.

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Easter is always the first Sunday following the first full moon after the Spring equinox, meaning that it will always fall between March 22 and April 25.

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But the Christian holiday could soon become a fixed date if The Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby gets his way.

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Easter falls on the first Sunday of Spring

Rev Welby has said that he would like to pin Easter to a specific Sunday within the next five to ten years, a move which will have knock-on effects for schools and parents.

He has said that he is in talks with Pope Francis, Coptic Pope Tawadros and the leader of the Orthodox church Patriarch Bartholomew to agree on a new date.

Such a change has been debated since the 10th Century. 

In 1928 Britain passed an act of Parliament which would allow for Easter to be fixed on the first Sunday after the second Saturday in April.

And in 1990 the Vatican approved a proposal for a fixed date subject to an agreement with other Christian churches which has not yet been reached.

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Hot cross buns are often eaten during Easter

When is Good Friday 2017?

Good Friday is the Friday immediately before Easter Sunday, which this year falls on April 14.

When are the Easter 2017 bank holidays?

Good Friday (April 14) and Easter Monday (April 17) are UK bank holidays.

Workers and schoolchildren will get another day off just two weeks later on the early May bank holiday on Monday May 1.

You can take advantage of the three bank holidays to take 18 days off work using just nine days of annual leave.

Simply book off from Tuesday April 18 until Friday April 28, and the rest will be added on thanks to the bank holidays.

What does Easter celebrate?

Easter marks Jesus’ crucifixion and subsequent restriction.

The Easter season begins on Ash Wednesday which is the first day of Lent.

Lent lasts for 40 days (excluding Sundays) and remembers the sacrifices Jesus made when he fasted in the desert.

Christians will typically fast for the 40 days or give up indulgent foods and vices.

The day before Lent begins – Pancake Day or Shrove Tuesday – is a day for making pancakes to use up rich foods such as eggs and milk ahead of fasting.

Lent culminates with the Holy Week, which includes Maundy Thursday – the day of the Last Supper, Good Friday – the day which Jesus was crucified, and Holy Saturday – the day that Jesus’ body lay in the tomb.

Easter Sunday is the first day after Lent and celebrates Jesus’ resurrection.

In the UK, Mothering Sunday is celebrated three weeks before Easter Sunday.

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Many children are given chocolate eggs to celebrate Easter

Why do we give Easter eggs?

Traditionally, eggs weren’t allowed during the Holy Week.

Any eggs laid that week would be saved and decorated to be given to children as Easter gifts.

The Victorians adapted this tradition with satin-covered cardboard eggs filled with gifts.

The first chocolate eggs appeared in France and Germany in the 19th century.

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