When Is Easter 2027: Date, Good Friday, Countdown & Future Dates

Easter moves more than most US holidays. It can land anywhere from late March to late April, and in most years the Orthodox churches celebrate on a different Sunday. Here is the date for 2027 and the years ahead, the dates of Good Friday and Ash Wednesday, and a plain English explanation of how the date is worked out.

How Many Days Until Easter?

The countdown uses the clock on your own device and switches to next year's date by itself once Easter has passed.

Easter Dates from 2026 to 2036

All dates are Sundays except Good Friday and Ash Wednesday. The last column is Orthodox Easter, given in today's calendar.

How Is the Date of Easter Set?

Most holidays follow the sun: a fixed date, or a set weekday of a set month. Easter also follows the moon. In plain words, the rule is:

1. Start at March 21, the church's fixed date for the spring equinox.
2. Find the first full moon on or after that date.
3. Easter is the next Sunday after that full moon. If the full moon falls on a Sunday, Easter is the Sunday after.

One detail trips people up. The full moon in this rule is not the one in the sky. It comes from church tables that follow the moon closely but can be a day or two off the real full moon. That is why Easter sometimes seems to break its own rule when you compare it with an astronomy calendar.

The rule sets limits on the date. The earliest possible Easter is March 22, which last happened in 1818 and will not happen again until 2285. The latest possible Easter is April 25, which last happened in 1943 and next happens in 2038.

Where the Rule Comes From

Easter is tied to the Jewish festival of Passover, because the Gospels place the death and resurrection of Jesus at Passover time. Early Christians did not all agree on when to celebrate it. In 325, church leaders at the Council of Nicaea agreed that all Christians should keep Easter on the same Sunday, and the method of finding that Sunday from the moon was worked out by church scholars over the following centuries.

Why Is Orthodox Easter on a Different Date?

In 1582, Pope Gregory XIII introduced the Gregorian calendar to fix a slow drift in the old Julian calendar, and the Western churches began working out Easter with the new calendar. Most Orthodox churches still work out Easter with the Julian calendar. Today the two calendars are 13 days apart, and the two methods also count the moon a little differently.

The result: Orthodox Easter is usually one week to five weeks later than Western Easter, and in some years both land on the same Sunday. In 2027, Orthodox Easter is on Sunday, May 2, 5 weeks after Western Easter. The next year both fall on the same Sunday is 2028, on April 16.

Holy Week and Other Dates Around Easter 2027

Many church dates are counted from Easter, so they move with it every year:

Is Easter a Holiday in the US?

Easter Sunday is not a federal holiday. It always falls on a Sunday, when federal offices are closed anyway. Good Friday is not a federal holiday either. But the day still changes a few schedules:

On Easter Sunday itself, many stores and restaurants keep shorter Sunday hours, and some close for the day. Call ahead if you are not sure.

Easter Holidays in Other Countries

In some countries the days around Easter are public holidays:

Easter Traditions in the US

• Church services: many churches hold sunrise services on Easter morning, and Holy Week services in the days before.
• Egg hunts and baskets: children search for hidden eggs, and many families give baskets of candy and small gifts.
• The White House Easter Egg Roll: held on the White House South Lawn on Easter Monday, a tradition that goes back to 1878.
• Family meals: Easter dinner or brunch is a big family meal for many households.

See Easter on Your Calendar

Print the March 2027 calendar with Easter marked, or see every holiday and religious date of the year on the USA holidays 2027 page. Any other month is on our printable monthly calendar.