Easter 2027

What this countdown tracks

Easter 2027 – the Christian feast celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ – falls on Sunday March 28, 2027 in the Western Christian tradition. Good Friday is March 26, 2027; Holy Saturday is March 27; Easter Sunday is March 28; Easter Monday is March 29. Orthodox Easter that year falls on May 2, 2027 – more than a month later because of the Julian-calendar computation.

About Easter

Easter (also called Pascha or Resurrection Sunday) commemorates the resurrection of Jesus Christ on the third day after his crucifixion, as told in all four Gospels. For Christians, Easter is the central feast of the liturgical year – the doctrinal foundation of the faith and the day on which the entire Christian calendar pivots. Without Easter, neither Christmas nor any other feast in the Christian year carries its theological weight.

The festival has been observed since the apostolic era – the earliest reference is in the writings of Justin Martyr in the mid-2nd century, and the Council of Nicaea in 325 CE codified the rule that Easter would be observed on the first Sunday after the first ecclesiastical full moon on or after the spring equinox (March 21). Disagreements about exactly how to compute that date – whether by Roman or Alexandrian rules, by astronomical or ecclesiastical full moons – have continued to divide Christian traditions ever since, which is why Western and Eastern Easters often fall weeks apart.

The fifty days from Easter Sunday to Pentecost are the year's longest festal season in the Christian liturgical calendar – a period of unrestrained joy, white and gold liturgical colours, and the daily greeting "Christ is risen / He is risen indeed." The seven weeks before Easter (Lent) are the year's longest fast.

How it's observed

Easter is preceded by Holy Week – the most liturgically intense week of the Christian year. Palm Sunday opens the week with the blessing and procession of palms; Maundy Thursday includes the washing of feet and the institution of the Eucharist; Good Friday is observed with veneration of the cross, the Stations of the Cross, and a strict fast; Holy Saturday is a day of waiting and quiet, with the Easter Vigil at nightfall.

The Easter Vigil is the most theologically charged liturgy of the year – beginning in darkness, lit by a single new fire from which the Paschal candle is kindled, with readings tracing salvation history from Genesis to the Resurrection, the renewal of baptismal vows, and the first Eucharist of Easter announced with the great Easter Acclamation. In many traditions, this is the year's primary moment for adult baptisms and confirmations.

Easter Sunday morning brings sunrise services (a tradition with strong roots in 18th-century Moravian Protestantism), the Easter Day Mass or service, and the family meal. Roast lamb is the traditional centerpiece in much of Europe and the Mediterranean (echoing the Jewish Passover lamb); ham is traditional in the US and parts of central Europe; hot cross buns and Easter eggs are universal. Children's Easter egg hunts, the Easter Bunny tradition (German in origin), and chocolate eggs date from the 19th century.

In Greece, Russia, Serbia, and the Orthodox world, Easter is the year's largest festival – the midnight Resurrection liturgy, the lighting of candles from the Holy Fire (carried each year from the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem), the breaking of the Lenten fast with red eggs and roasted lamb, and the all-day visiting that follows.

Why this date specifically

Easter is computed by the Western (Gregorian) computus: it is the first Sunday after the first ecclesiastical full moon on or after March 21 (the ecclesiastical spring equinox). For 2027, the first full moon on or after March 21 falls on March 22 (Phalguna Purnima); the following Sunday is March 28 – Western Easter 2027. Orthodox churches use the Julian-calendar computus and additionally require that Pascha must follow Jewish Passover; that pushes Orthodox Easter to May 2, 2027 in this case. The two Easters next coincide in 2028.

What to watch for / notable observances in 2027

• March 21 – Palm Sunday; processions and blessing of palms
• March 25 – Maundy Thursday; institution of the Eucharist; foot-washing rite
• March 26 – Good Friday; Stations of the Cross at the Colosseum led by the Pope
• March 27 – Holy Saturday; Easter Vigil at nightfall
• March 28 – Easter Sunday; Pope's Urbi et Orbi blessing at noon CEST
• March 29 – Easter Monday; public holiday in most of Europe and the Commonwealth
• May 2 – Orthodox Easter; major celebrations in Athens, Moscow, Belgrade
• White House Easter Egg Roll on Easter Monday in Washington, DC

Related festivals to track

Easter 2027 closes the Lenten season that began with Ash Wednesday on February 10, 2027. Good Friday 2027 is the Friday before. Pentecost follows fifty days later on May 16, 2027. The Christian calendar overview is at the Christian festival hub. For comparable spring-equinox post-fasting festivals in other traditions, see Eid al-Fitr 2027 and Passover 2027.

FAQ

When is Easter in 2027? Sunday March 28, 2027 (Western); Sunday May 2, 2027 (Orthodox).

How is Easter observed? Through the Holy Week liturgies (Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday), the Easter Vigil at nightfall on Holy Saturday, and Easter Sunday services and family meals; in Orthodox tradition, the midnight Resurrection liturgy is the central celebration.

Is Easter a public holiday? Yes – Good Friday and Easter Monday are public holidays in most of Europe, the Commonwealth, and the Christian-majority Americas. The US does not observe Good Friday or Easter Monday as federal holidays.

What is the typical greeting? "Christ is risen!" / "He is risen indeed!" – translated into nearly every Christian language ("Christos voskrese" / "Voistinu voskrese" in Russian; "Christos anesti" / "Alithos anesti" in Greek). "Happy Easter" is the secular alternative.