The date of Easter Day is usually the first Sunday after the first Full Moon occurring on or after the March equinox.
Easter Sunday celebrates the Christian belief of Jesus Christ’s resurrection. The Easter date is set around the time of the March Equinox.
Setting the Easter Date
The March equinox coincides with Easter Sunday and holidays that are related to it. These holidays do not fall on a fixed date in the Gregorian calendar, or the Julian calendar, which is still used by many Orthodox Christian churches.
Calendar with holidays
The dates of many Christian holidays depend on the Easter date. Some of these holidays include:
Palm Sunday
Good Friday
Easter Sunday
Ascension Day
Pentecost/Whitsunday.
According to the Bible, Jesus’ death and resurrection occurred around the time of the Jewish Passover, which was celebrated on the first full moon following the vernal equinox.
This soon led to Christians celebrating Easter on different dates. At the end of the 2nd century, some churches celebrated Easter on the day of the Passover, while others celebrated it on the following Sunday.
In 325CE the Council of Nicaea established that Easter would be held on the first Sunday after the first full moon occurring on or after the vernal equinox.(*) From that point forward, the Easter date depended on the ecclesiastical approximation of March 21 for the vernal equinox.
Easter is delayed by 1 week if the full moon is on Sunday, which decreases the chances of it falling on the same day as the Jewish Passover. The council’s ruling is contrary to the Quartodecimans, a group of Christians who celebrated Easter on the day of the full moon, 14 days into the month
1997–2037 in Gregorian dates)
Year Western Eastern
1997 March 30 April 27
1998 April 12 April 19
1999 April 4 April 11
2000 April 23 April 30
2001 April 15
2002 March 31 May 5
2003 April 20 April 27
2004 April 11
2005 March 27 May 1
2006 April 16 April 23
2007 April 8
2008 March 23 April 27
2009 April 12 April 19
2010 April 4
2011 April 24
2012 April 8 April 15
2013 March 31 May 5
2014 April 20
2015 April 5 April 12
2016 March 27 May 1
2017 April 16
2018 April 1 April 8
2019 April 21 April 28
2020 April 12 April 19
2021 April 4 May 2
2022 April 17 April 24
2023 April 9 April 16
2024 March 31 May 5
2025 April 20
2026 April 5 April 12
2027 March 28 May 2
2028 April 16
2029 April 1 April 8
.
2030 April 21 April 28
2031 April 13
2032 March 28 May 2
2033 April 17 April 24
2034 April 9
2035 March 25 April 29
2036 April 13 April 20
2037 April 5
