Easter 2026

Easter 2026 occurs on Sunday, April 5. However, Easter falls on a different date each year.

Easter Sunday and related observances, such as Ash Wednesday and Palm Sunday, are considered “moveable feasts,” because they don’t occur on a fixed date every year. Instead, the Christian church determined in the fourth century A.D. that Easter should be observed on the first Sunday after the first full moon occurring on or after the spring equinox. In western Christianity, which follows the Gregorian calendar, this timing means Easter always falls on a Sunday between March 22 and April 25.

In Eastern Orthodox Christianity, which adheres to the Julian calendar, Orthodox Easter falls on a Sunday between April 4 and May 8 each year. The holiday also serves as the start of the season of Pascha (Greek for “passover”), which ends 40 days later with the holiday known as the Feast of the Ascension.

In some denominations of Protestant Christianity, Easter Sunday marks the beginning of Eastertide, or the Easter Season. Eastertide ends on the 50th day after Easter, which is known as Pentecost Sunday.

The resurrection of Jesus, as described in the New Testament of the Bible, is essentially the foundation upon which the Christian religions are built. Hence, Easter is a very significant date on the Christian calendar.

According to the New Testament, Jesus was initially arrested by the authorities because he claimed to be the “Son of God,” though historians question this motive, with some saying that the Romans viewed him as a threat to the empire. He was sentenced to death by Pontius Pilate, the Roman prefect in the province of Judea from A.D. 26 to 36. The authors of the Gospels hold that Jesus’ death by crucifixion, marked by the Christian observance of Good Friday on the Friday before Easter, and subsequent resurrection three days later prove that he was the living son of God.

In varying ways, all four of the Gospels in the New Testament (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) state that people who believe in Jesus’ death and resurrection are given “the gift of eternal life,” meaning that the faithful will be welcomed into the “Kingdom of Heaven” upon their earthly death.

Despite Easter’s significance as a Christian holy day, many of the traditions and symbols that play a key role in the holiday’s observance actually have roots in pagan celebrations—particularly the pagan goddess Eostre—and in the Jewish holiday of Passover.

Notably, Easter is also associated with the Jewish holiday of Passover as well as the exodus of the Jews from Egypt, as described in the Old Testament. These links are clearly seen in the Last Supper, which occurred the night before Jesus’ arrest and the sufferings Jesus endured following his arrest.

The Last Supper was essentially a Passover feast (though this is a subject of scholarly debate). However, the New Testament describes how Jesus gave it new significance: He identified the matzo, unleavened Jewish bread that is a Passover staple, as his “body” to the Twelve Apostles and the cup of wine they drank as his “blood.” These rituals would come to symbolize the sacrifice he was about to make in death and became the basis for the Christian ritual of Holy Communion, which remains a fundamental part of Christian religious services.

As Jesus’ arrest and execution were said to have occurred during the Jewish observance of Passover, early Christians celebrated Easter two days after the first day of Passover. This meant the holiday sometimes fell on a weekday. Eventually, some faithful began observing Easter on the Sunday after Passover began. This dissonance was resolved in A.D. 325 when the Council of Nicaea declared the holiday’s current timing on the first Sunday following the first full moon after the spring equinox. Despite this change, Easter and Passover are often close on the calendar given that both religions mandate spring observances of the holidays.

St. Bede the Venerable, the eighth-century author of Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum (“Ecclesiastical History of the English People”), maintains that the English word “Easter” comes from Eostre, or Eostrae, the Anglo-Saxon goddess of spring and fertility. Other historians maintain that “Easter” derives from in albis, a Latin phrase that is plural for alba, or “dawn,” that became eostarum in Old High German, a precursor to the English language of today.

In western Christianity, including Roman Catholicism and Protestant denominations, the period prior to Easter holds special significance. This period of fasting and penitence is called Lent. It begins on Ash Wednesday and lasts for 40 days (not including Sundays).

The Sunday immediately prior to Easter is called Palm Sunday, and it commemorates Jesus’ arrival in Jerusalem, when followers laid palm leaves across the road to greet him. In both branches of Christianity, Palm Sunday marks the beginning of Holy Week, which ends on Easter. Other Holy Week events are Holy Thursday (also known as “Maundy Thursday”), which commemorates Jesus’ Last Supper with the apostles; Good Friday, the remembrance of Jesus’ crucifixion; and Holy Saturday, when many church hold the Easter Vigil late in the day.

In Eastern Orthodox Christianity, Easter rituals start with the Great Lent, which begins on Clean Monday (40 days prior to Easter, not including Sundays). The last week of Great Lent is referred to as Palm Week, and it ends with Lazarus Saturday, the day before Palm Sunday.

Irrespective of denomination, there are many Easter-time traditions with roots that can be traced to non-Christian and even pagan or non-religious celebrations. Many non-Christians choose to observe these traditions while essentially ignoring the religious aspects of the celebration.

Examples of non-religious Easter traditions include Easter eggs, and related games such as egg rolling and egg decorating. Eggs have long symbolized life, renewal and rebirth across many ancient cultures, appearing in creation myths—including the concept of the “cosmic egg” from which the universe emerges—and were established symbols of fertility and birth in pre-Christian pagan traditions. Egg decorating might have become part of the Easter celebration in a nod to the religious significance of Easter: Jesus’ resurrection or re-birth.

Many people—mostly children—also participate in Easter egg “hunts,” in which decorated eggs are hidden. Perhaps the most famous Easter tradition for children is the annual White House Easter Egg Roll, when children roll Easter eggs on the South Lawn of the White House. The event began in 1878.

In some households, a character known as the Easter Bunny delivers candy and chocolate eggs to children on Easter Sunday morning. These candies often arrive in an Easter basket.

The exact origins of the Easter Bunny tradition are unknown, though some historians believe it arrived in America with German immigrants in the 1700s. Rabbits are, in many cultures, known as enthusiastic procreators, so the arrival of baby bunnies in springtime meadows became associated with birth and renewal.

Notably, several Protestant Christian denominations, including Lutherans and Quakers, have opted to formally abandon many Easter traditions, deeming them too pagan. However, many religious observers of Easter also include them in their celebrations.

Easter foods are steeped in symbolism. An Easter dinner of lamb also has historical roots, since a lamb was often used as a sacrificial animal in Jewish traditions, and lamb is frequently served during Passover. The phrase “lamb of God” is sometimes used to refer to Jesus and the sacrificial nature of his death.

Today, Easter is a commercial event as well as a religious holiday, marked by high sales for greeting cards, candies (such as Peeps, chocolate eggs and chocolate Easter bunnies) and other gifts.