When is Easter 2019, Good Friday and Easter Monday in the UK?

15 April 2019, 11:00

Easter dates
Easter dates. Picture: Pexels

By Tom Eames

Easter 2019 is only a few weeks away, but it can be difficult remembering what weekend it lands on each year.

Easter signals a four-day weekend for many people in the UK, but it is held on different dates every year.

The Easter weekend for 2019 in the UK is:

Good Friday: April 19

Saturday April 20

Easter Sunday: April 21

Easter Monday: April 22

Easter eggs
Easter eggs. Picture: Pexels

Why does Easter change every year?

Easter is a movable feast and is usually celebrated on the first Sunday after the full moon on or after March 21, based on the lunar calendar.

The First Council of Nicaea was a council of Christian bishops, created in Nicaea in Bithynia by the Roman Emperor Constantine I in AD 325. They decided to come up with a consensus on several Christian topics.

Based on the paschal full moon, it was chosen by the bishops that Easter Day would fall on the next full moon after the spring equinox.

Read more: Why do we have Easter eggs and Easter bunnies?

This was because Easter must fall on a Sunday, as it was the day of Christ’s Resurrection. The paschal full moon was chosen, as it is the date of Passover in the Jewish calendar, and the Last Supper occurred on the Passover. This means that Easter is the Sunday after Passover.

As the paschal full moon can be on different days in different time zones, it was decided that the full moon is always on the 14th day of the lunar month. This is despite the fact that the spring equinox may occur on March 20, so the Church also fixed the spring equinox as March 21.