Easter 2018: When Is Easter This Year? When Does It Fall?

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Easter: Why do we celebrate the Christian holiday?

When is Easter weekend 2018 and when are the school holidays?

Easter this year takes place from Good Friday on Friday March 30 until Easter Monday on Monday April 2, with Easter Sunday falling on April 1.

Workers will enjoy a four-day weekend thanks to the bank holidays on Good Friday and Easter Monday.

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

• Bank holidays 2018: When are the Bank Holidays this year?
• School holidays 2018: When are the school holidays this year?

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Easter 2018: Easter Sunday must always fall on the next full moon after the Spring Equinox

When is Easter Sunday 2018?

This year Easter Sunday will be celebrated on Sunday April 1 - also April Fools’ Day.

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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When is Good Friday 2018?

Good Friday is the Friday immediately before Easter Sunday, so this year Good Friday falls on Friday March 30.

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When are the Easter 2018 bank holidays?

Good Friday (March 30) and Easter Monday (April 2) are UK bank holidays.

This year the other bank holidays fall on Monday May 7 - Early May bank holiday and Monday May 28 - Spring bank holiday.

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Easter 2018: Christians celebrate Easter on a Sunday as it was the day of Christ’s resurrection

Why does Easter change every year?

Easter Sunday always falls on the next full moon after the Spring Equinox.

As the full moon can be on different days in different time zones, the Church said they would use the 14th day of the lunar month instead - the Paschal Full Moon - and host Easter Day on the following Sunday. 

Once the date of that moon is known, Easter Day and the Easter holidays can be determined. 

Christians celebrate Easter on a Sunday, as it was the day of Christ’s resurrection, after he was crucified on a Friday two days before.

The Paschal Full Moon was chosen because of the date of Passover in the Jewish calendar, and the Last Supper (Holy Thursday) occurred on the Passover.

Therefore Easter is the Sunday after Passover.

It was determined by a council of Christian bishops that Easter Day would always be on a Sunday to commemorate the happy occasion.

Easter can falls as early as March and as late as April, as it is dependent on the year and calendar used.

Christians in the east may use the Julian calendar instead of the Gregorian calendar so may have a different date than Western Christianity. 

What does Easter celebrate?

Easter is an occasion to mark Jesus’s crucifixion and his subsequent resurrection.

The Easter season begins on Ash Wednesday (February 14) which is the first day of Lent.

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

Christians will generally 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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