Easter 2028

What this countdown tracks

Easter 2028 is unusual – Western Easter and Orthodox Easter coincide on Sunday April 16, 2028. It is one of the rare years (the others in this decade are 2025, 2031, and 2034) when the Western Gregorian computus and the Eastern Julian computus produce the same Easter Sunday, allowing global Christianity to celebrate Resurrection Sunday on the same day.

About Easter

Easter (Pascha or Resurrection Sunday) commemorates the resurrection of Jesus Christ on the third day after his crucifixion, as told in all four Gospels. It is the central feast of the Christian liturgical year – the doctrinal foundation of Christianity, the moment from which the entire calendar of feasts radiates. The earliest Christians celebrated Easter weekly (every Sunday is, in a sense, a "little Easter"), but the annual Pascha as the year's greatest feast was established by the apostolic generation and codified at the Council of Nicaea in 325 CE.

The Council of Nicaea set the rule that Easter would fall on the first Sunday after the first ecclesiastical full moon on or after the spring equinox (March 21). The Western and Eastern churches diverged in practice when Pope Gregory XIII reformed the calendar in 1582 – the Western (Roman Catholic, then Protestant) churches adopted the Gregorian calendar; the Eastern (Greek, Russian, Serbian, Bulgarian, Romanian, Coptic, Ethiopian) churches retained the Julian. The two Easters now coincide irregularly, sometimes in successive years and sometimes with five-year gaps; 2028 is one of the coinciding years.

There has been ongoing ecumenical interest in unifying the Easter date. In 2025, Pope Francis and Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople jointly expressed support for the World Council of Churches' Aleppo proposal of 1997, which would set Easter by astronomical observation rather than by either Gregorian or Julian computation. No formal change has yet been adopted, but the coincidence of dates in 2025, 2028, and 2031 has revived public discussion.

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 commemorating Jesus's entry into Jerusalem on a donkey. Maundy Thursday includes the washing of feet (after the Last Supper account in John 13) and the institution of the Eucharist. Good Friday is observed with the Stations of the Cross, the veneration of the cross, and a day-long fast in many traditions. Holy Saturday is a day of waiting; the Easter Vigil begins at nightfall with the lighting of new fire and the singing of the Exsultet.

Easter Sunday morning brings sunrise services (a Moravian Protestant tradition that spread through Anglo-American evangelicalism), the Easter Day Mass or service, and the family meal. Roast lamb is the traditional centerpiece in much of Europe (echoing the Jewish Passover lamb); ham is traditional in the US; hot cross buns, Easter eggs, simnel cake, and Italian colomba di Pasqua are widespread. Children's Easter egg hunts and the Easter Bunny tradition (German in origin) date from the 19th century.

In Orthodox Christianity, Easter is the year's largest festival – larger than Christmas. The midnight Resurrection liturgy, beginning at 11 PM on Holy Saturday and running past midnight into Pascha morning, is the most attended service of the year. The Holy Fire from the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem is flown to Athens, Moscow, Belgrade, and other Orthodox capitals to light the Easter candles. The post-Lenten feast of red-dyed eggs (cracked one against another with the greeting "Christ is risen / He is risen indeed"), roasted lamb, and tsoureki bread runs all of Easter Sunday.

Why this date specifically

Western Easter 2028 falls on April 16 because the first full moon on or after March 21 in the Gregorian computus falls on April 9 (Holy Thursday by Jewish reckoning), and the following Sunday is April 16. Orthodox Easter 2028 also lands on April 16 because the Julian-calendar computus, with its rule that Pascha must follow Jewish Passover, produces the same Sunday this year. Coincidences happen when the Julian and Gregorian calendars and the Jewish Passover all align – they recur approximately every three to five years.

What to watch for / notable observances in 2028

• March 1 – Ash Wednesday; start of Lent
• April 9 – Palm Sunday
• April 13 – Maundy Thursday; foot-washing in St. Peter's Basilica
• April 14 – Good Friday; Stations of the Cross at the Colosseum led by the Pope
• April 15 – Holy Saturday; Easter Vigil at nightfall
• April 16 – Easter Sunday (Western and Orthodox coincide); Pope's Urbi et Orbi blessing at noon CEST
• April 16 – Orthodox midnight Resurrection liturgy in Athens, Moscow, Belgrade, Bucharest
• April 17 – Easter Monday; public holiday in most of Europe and the Commonwealth
• White House Easter Egg Roll in Washington, DC

Related festivals to track

Easter 2028 closes the Lenten season that began with Ash Wednesday on March 1, 2028. Good Friday 2028 is the Friday before. Pentecost follows on June 4. The Christian calendar overview is at the Christian festival hub. For comparable spring-equinox renewal festivals in other traditions, see Passover 2028 (April 11) and Holi 2028.

FAQ

When is Easter in 2028? Sunday April 16, 2028 – with Western and Orthodox Easter coinciding (a relatively rare alignment, also occurring in 2025 and 2031).

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 centerpiece.

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

What is the typical greeting? "Christ is risen!" / "He is risen indeed!" – translated into every Christian language. "Happy Easter" is the secular alternative.