🐰 Easter Date Calculator
By Shihab Mia · Updated 2026-07-12
Gregorian calendar, valid for 1583 and later.
Enter a year to find the date of Easter Sunday.
Easter Sunday is the first Sunday after the first full moon on or after the church spring equinox (fixed at 21 March), so it moves each year and always lands between 22 March and 25 April. Enter any year from 1583 onward and this calculator returns the exact Western (Gregorian) Easter date, confirms it is a Sunday, and lists the surrounding years so you can plan ahead. Easter falls on 5 April in 2026 and 28 March in 2027.
What is the Easter Date Calculator?
Easter is the Christian celebration of the resurrection of Jesus, and unlike Christmas it has no fixed date. The rule, agreed at the First Council of Nicaea in 325 AD, is that Easter falls on the first Sunday after the Paschal full moon, meaning the first ecclesiastical full moon that occurs on or after the spring equinox. For church purposes the equinox is fixed at 21 March rather than the true astronomical event, and the full moon is taken from a calculated lunar table rather than the sky. Because the date depends on both the solar year and a lunar cycle that do not divide evenly, it drifts from one year to the next.
Working this out by hand is awkward, so mathematicians developed the Computus, a step-by-step calculation for the date of Easter. The version used here is the Anonymous Gregorian algorithm, often associated with Carl Friedrich Gauss and refined by later writers. It uses only integer arithmetic on the year: it derives the golden number (the position in the 19-year Metonic cycle), the century-based corrections, the epact (the age of the Moon), and the dominical letter, then combines them into a month and a day. It is exact for the Gregorian calendar and is the method most calendar software relies on.
The result always falls between 22 March and 25 April inclusive, a 35-day window. The earliest possible date, 22 March, last happened in 1818 and will not return until 2285; the latest, 25 April, occurred in 1886 and 1943 and next arrives in 2038. Across the full 5.7-million-year cycle of the Gregorian Computus the single most common date is 19 April, while 22 March and 24 March are the rarest. Most years cluster in early to mid April.
Easter is the anchor for a whole set of movable feasts. Ash Wednesday, the start of Lent, is 46 days before Easter; Palm Sunday is the Sunday before; Good Friday is two days before; Ascension Day is 39 days after; and Pentecost (Whitsun) is 49 days after. Once you know the Easter date, every one of these follows by simple day counting, which is why a reliable Easter calculation is useful well beyond the day itself.
Eastern Orthodox churches usually celebrate Easter (Pascha) on a different date because they still base the calculation on the older Julian calendar and its own equinox and full-moon tables. The two dates can coincide, as they did in 2025 when both fell on 20 April, but Orthodox Easter is often one to five weeks later than the Western date. This calculator returns the Western (Catholic and Protestant) Gregorian date; the reference table below lists the Orthodox dates alongside for comparison.
A note on scope: the Gregorian calendar reform took effect in October 1582, so the Computus used here is valid from 1583 onward. For years before that you would need the Julian calculation, which produces different dates and is not covered by this tool.
When to use it
- Planning holidays, school terms, or travel around the long Easter weekend in a future year.
- Scheduling church services, Holy Week liturgies, choir practice, or community events that hinge on the Easter date.
- Setting retail, marketing, or seasonal campaign dates that anchor to Easter rather than a fixed day.
- Deriving related movable feasts such as Ash Wednesday, Palm Sunday, Good Friday, Ascension, and Pentecost from the Easter date.
- Comparing Western and Orthodox Easter to coordinate events across different Christian traditions.
- Settling a curiosity or a trivia question about which day Easter fell on in a past or future year.
How to use the Easter Date Calculator
- Enter the year you want (any year from 1583 onward, where the Gregorian rule applies).
- Read off the Easter Sunday date shown in the result panel.
- Note the weekday confirmation: Easter is always a Sunday.
- Use the This year or Next year buttons for quick lookups, and check the surrounding-years table for context.
- To find a related feast, count from Easter: for example subtract 46 days for Ash Wednesday or add 49 days for Pentecost.
Formula & method
Worked examples
Find the date of Easter Sunday in 2026.
- a = 2026 mod 19 = 12
- b = floor(2026 / 100) = 20, c = 2026 mod 100 = 26
- d = 5, e = 0, f = 0, g = 7
- h = (19*12 + 20 - 5 - 7 + 15) mod 30 = 251 mod 30 = 11
- i = 6, k = 2, l = (32 + 0 + 12 - 11 - 2) mod 7 = 31 mod 7 = 3, m = 0
- month = floor((11 + 3 - 0 + 114) / 31) = floor(128 / 31) = 4 (April); day = (128 mod 31) + 1 = 4 + 1 = 5
Result: Easter Sunday 2026 is April 5, 2026.
Find the date of Easter Sunday in 2024.
- a = 2024 mod 19 = 10
- b = 20, c = 24, d = 5, e = 0, f = 0, g = 7
- h = (190 + 20 - 5 - 7 + 15) mod 30 = 213 mod 30 = 3
- i = 6, k = 0, l = (32 + 0 + 12 - 3 - 0) mod 7 = 41 mod 7 = 6, m = 0
- month = floor((3 + 6 + 114) / 31) = floor(123 / 31) = 3 (March); day = (123 mod 31) + 1 = 30 + 1 = 31
Result: Easter Sunday 2024 was March 31, 2024.
Derive Ash Wednesday and Pentecost from Easter 2026 (April 5).
- Ash Wednesday is 46 days before Easter: April 5 minus 46 days = February 18, 2026.
- Palm Sunday is 7 days before Easter: March 29, 2026.
- Good Friday is 2 days before Easter: April 3, 2026.
- Ascension Day is 39 days after Easter: May 14, 2026.
- Pentecost is 49 days after Easter: May 24, 2026.
Result: From Easter on April 5, the 2026 season runs from Ash Wednesday (Feb 18) to Pentecost (May 24).
Western (Gregorian) vs Orthodox Easter Sunday by year
| Year | Western Easter | Orthodox Easter |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | March 31 | May 5 |
| 2025 | April 20 | April 20 |
| 2026 | April 5 | April 12 |
| 2027 | March 28 | May 2 |
| 2028 | April 16 | April 16 |
| 2029 | April 1 | April 8 |
| 2030 | April 21 | April 28 |
Movable feasts counted from Easter Sunday
| Feast | Offset from Easter | Weekday |
|---|---|---|
| Ash Wednesday (Lent begins) | 46 days before | Wednesday |
| Palm Sunday | 7 days before | Sunday |
| Maundy Thursday | 3 days before | Thursday |
| Good Friday | 2 days before | Friday |
| Easter Sunday | Easter day | Sunday |
| Ascension Day | 39 days after | Thursday |
| Pentecost (Whitsun) | 49 days after | Sunday |
Easter facts and limits
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| Earliest possible date | March 22 (last in 1818, next 2285) |
| Latest possible date | April 25 (last in 1943, next 2038) |
| Most common date | April 19 |
| Always falls on | A Sunday |
| Rule set at | Council of Nicaea, 325 AD |
| Calendar used here | Gregorian (Western churches) |
Common mistakes to avoid
- Expecting Easter on a fixed date. Easter is a movable feast tied to the spring full moon, so it shifts each year and can land anywhere from 22 March to 25 April. There is no single calendar date to memorize.
- Confusing Western and Orthodox Easter. Eastern Orthodox churches calculate Easter on the Julian calendar, so their date usually differs from the Western date and can be up to five weeks later, though the two sometimes coincide. This tool gives the Gregorian (Western) date.
- Using the equinox as the actual astronomical event. The rule fixes the equinox at 21 March for church purposes, not the true astronomical equinox (which can fall on 19 or 20 March). Mixing the two up can shift your answer by a full lunar month.
- Treating the Paschal full moon as the real Moon. The church full moon comes from a calculated ecclesiastical table, not from observing the sky. In some years the tabular full moon differs by a day or two from the astronomical one, which can move Easter to a different Sunday.
- Applying the Gregorian rule to years before 1583. The Gregorian calendar began in October 1582, so the Computus used here is only valid from 1583 onward. Earlier years need the Julian calculation, which gives a different date.
- Assuming Good Friday is a fixed number of days from a fixed date. Related feasts such as Good Friday, Ash Wednesday, and Pentecost are counted from Easter, not from a set calendar day. Find Easter first, then count forward or backward.
Glossary
- Computus
- The set of calculations used to determine the date of Easter from the year, combining solar and lunar cycles.
- Movable feast
- A religious observance whose date changes from year to year rather than falling on a fixed calendar date.
- Paschal full moon
- The first ecclesiastical full moon falling on or after the church spring equinox (fixed at 21 March); Easter is the Sunday after it.
- Epact
- The age of the Moon, in days, on a reference date, used in the Computus to locate the Paschal full moon.
- Golden number
- A value from 1 to 19 marking the year position in the 19-year Metonic lunar cycle, used to track moon phases.
- Metonic cycle
- A 19-year period after which the phases of the Moon fall on roughly the same calendar dates, the basis of the lunar side of the Computus.
- Dominical letter
- A letter from A to G that marks which dates fall on Sundays in a given year, used to find the Sunday after the Paschal full moon.
- Gregorian calendar
- The civil calendar introduced in 1582 and now in worldwide use; the Western Easter date is based on it.
Frequently asked questions
When is Easter this year?
Click the This year button in the calculator to see the exact date. Easter is a movable feast, so it changes annually: for example it falls on April 5 in 2026 and March 28 in 2027. The date is always a Sunday between 22 March and 25 April.
How is the date of Easter calculated?
Easter is the first Sunday after the first full moon (the Paschal full moon) that falls on or after the spring equinox, which the church fixes at 21 March. This calculator turns that rule into exact arithmetic using the Anonymous Gregorian Computus algorithm.
Why does Easter change date every year?
Because the rule depends on a full moon, which follows the lunar cycle, not the fixed solar calendar. The Moon and the calendar do not line up evenly, so the Sunday that satisfies the rule lands on a different date each year, anywhere in a 35-day window.
What are the earliest and latest possible dates for Easter?
In the Gregorian calendar, Easter can fall no earlier than 22 March and no later than 25 April. The earliest, 22 March, last occurred in 1818 and will not recur until 2285. The latest, 25 April, last occurred in 1943 and returns in 2038.
Why is Orthodox Easter on a different day?
Eastern Orthodox churches base their calculation on the older Julian calendar and its own equinox and full-moon tables, so their Easter usually falls on a different Sunday, sometimes the same day and sometimes up to five weeks later. This tool gives the Western Gregorian date.
When do Western and Orthodox Easter fall on the same day?
They coincide in some years and not others. Both traditions celebrated Easter on April 20 in 2025 and will again on April 16 in 2028. In most other years the Orthodox date is later because of the Julian calendar it is built on.
How do I find Good Friday, Ash Wednesday, or Pentecost from Easter?
Count from Easter Sunday. Good Friday is 2 days before, Palm Sunday is 7 days before, and Ash Wednesday is 46 days before. Ascension Day is 39 days after and Pentecost is 49 days after. Find the Easter date first, then add or subtract these offsets.
What is the most common date for Easter?
Across the full repeating cycle of the Gregorian Computus, April 19 is the single most frequent Easter date, and most years fall in early to mid April. The rarest dates are at the extremes, 22 March and 24 March.
Does this calculator work for any year?
It works for any year from 1583 onward, the period in which the Gregorian Easter rule applies. Years before the calendar reform of 1582 used the Julian calculation, which gives different dates and is not covered here.
Is Easter always on a Sunday?
Yes. By definition Easter is the Sunday after the Paschal full moon, so it always lands on a Sunday. The calculator confirms the weekday for every year you check.
Sources
- Fundamentals of Calendar Reckoning: The Date of Easter , United States Naval Observatory