How to use the easter date calculator
- Enter a year from 1583 to 4000. The starting year is an example.
- Choose the church calendar: Western (the Gregorian calendar used by Catholic and most Protestant churches) or Orthodox (the Julian-based reckoning, with the date shown in the Gregorian calendar).
- Read the date and weekday of Easter Sunday at the top, with the related days listed under it.
- Scroll down for a table of Easter for the next eight years, or use Copy, Print or CSV to keep it.
Formula
Western Easter = the first Sunday after the first full moon on or after March 21 (the church's calendar moon)
Computed with the Meeus, Jones and Butcher algorithm for the Gregorian calendar
Orthodox Easter = the same rule in the Julian calendar, then moved to the Gregorian date
Ash Wednesday = Easter - 46 days; Good Friday = Easter - 2; Ascension Day = Easter + 39; Pentecost = Easter + 49
The full moon used is the church's table moon, not the astronomical full moon, which is why the date can differ from the moon in the sky. The algorithm is valid for the Gregorian calendar from 1583.
Easter in 2026
For 2026, the first full moon on or after March 21 in the church's table is on April 2, a Thursday. The next Sunday is April 5, so Western Easter is Sunday, April 5, 2026. Counting from it, Ash Wednesday is February 18, Palm Sunday is March 29, Good Friday is April 3, Easter Monday is April 6, Ascension Day is Thursday, May 14, and Pentecost is Sunday, May 24.
Orthodox Easter in 2026 is April 12, one week later. In 2027 the two dates are far apart: Western Easter is March 28 and Orthodox Easter is May 2. In some years, such as 2025 and 2010, both churches celebrate on the same day. The earliest possible Western Easter is March 22, as in 1818, and the latest is April 25.
Why Easter moves
Easter is tied to the Jewish Passover, which follows the moon, so it falls on a different date each year. Churches agreed long ago to place it on the first Sunday after the first full moon on or after the spring equinox, which they fixed at March 21. Since the rule depends on both the moon and the weekday, it repeats only after a long cycle.
Western and Orthodox churches follow the same rule but use different calendars. The Orthodox reckoning stays in the Julian calendar, which is currently 13 days behind the Gregorian one, and keeps the equinox at March 21 in that calendar. That is why the dates often differ, and why the gap can be one week, four weeks or five weeks.
Using the related days
Many dates in the church year are counted from Easter, including Lent, Holy Week, Ascension and Pentecost. Lent lasts 40 days not counting Sundays, which is why Ash Wednesday falls 46 days before Easter. Which of these days are holidays, school breaks or days off depends on the country, the employer and the school.
To plan around a date, add or subtract days with the date calculator, find the weekday with the day of week calculator, see fixed holidays on the US federal holidays calendar, and print a calendar with the printable calendar maker.
Assumptions and limits
- Dates are for the Gregorian calendar from 1583 to 4000. The Orthodox date is shown in the same Gregorian calendar.
- The algorithm follows the church's rules, not the astronomical moon.
- Related days are counted by fixed offsets from Easter and do not say what is a public holiday in any place.
- Some churches use other rules, and a few countries or communities may differ from the two shown.
Frequently asked questions
How is the date of Easter calculated?
It is the first Sunday after the first full moon on or after March 21, using the church's table of moon dates. The Meeus, Jones and Butcher algorithm does that arithmetic for the Gregorian calendar.
Why is Orthodox Easter on a different date?
Orthodox churches apply the rule in the Julian calendar, which is currently 13 days behind the Gregorian calendar, so the same rule lands on different dates. The two dates match in some years and differ in others.
What is the earliest and latest date of Western Easter?
March 22 is the earliest and April 25 is the latest. Easter in 1818 fell on March 22.
Why does the calculator stop at 4000?
The method is exact for the arithmetic of the Gregorian calendar, but the church rules were set for centuries after 1583, and a limit of 4000 keeps the table to a sensible range.