Easter 2019: When is Easter this year? When does it fall?
EASTER may seem a long way off now but the celebration is the next the bank holiday of 2019 - so when does Easter fall this year and what date?
With January in full swing and Christmas already a distant memory, many of us are already looking forward to the next break from work. The Easter bank holiday moves around each year so takes a bit more careful planning for busy diaries. The Christian festival has two bank holidays, Good Friday and Easter Monday, meaning the UK gets to enjoy a four-day weekend.
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Here are the dates you need to know for 2019.
When is Easter this year? When does it fall?
Easter falls on Sunday, April 21 in 2019, according to the Gregorian calendar.
That means it is a particularly late Easter this year, as the religious celebration can take place any time between March 22 and April 25.
Good Friday in 2019 is on April 19 and Easter Monday is on April 22.
Last year, Easter Sunday was on April 1 - so Brits may get to enjoy more spring-like weather this time around, with the date falling later in the month.
Why does the date change so much?
Christians mark Jesus’s death as being around the time of the Jewish Passover, celebrated on the first Full Moon after the Spring Equinox.
The First Council of Nicea agreed Easter would be held on the first Sunday after this period.
The Spring Equinox usually takes place n March 20 or 21.
But as the full moon can change according to individual time zones, the church calculates Easter as being the 14th day of the lunar month instead, known as the Paschal Full Moon.
This means Easter Day is usually held on the following Sunday.
The earliest Easter in recent years was marked on March 23, more than ten years ago in 2008.
In 1943, a full moon fell on March 20, just before the equinox, so the paschal full moon was the next one on April 18 - meaning Easter was not held until April 25.
