Easter 2027 is on Sunday, March 28, 2027. Good Friday is March 26 and Palm Sunday is March 21. Orthodox Easter comes five weeks later, on Sunday, May 2, 2027.
Easter is one of the earlier ones in 2027, about a week ahead of its 2026 date (April 5). This guide explains how the date is calculated, lists the whole Holy Week and the Lent dates, compares Western and Orthodox Easter, and covers what’s open on Good Friday and Easter Monday.
When is Easter 2027? Holy Week and Lent dates
| Day | Date |
|---|---|
| Mardi Gras (Shrove Tuesday) | Tuesday, February 9, 2027 |
| Ash Wednesday, start of Lent | Wednesday, February 10, 2027 |
| Palm Sunday | Sunday, March 21, 2027 |
| Maundy (Holy) Thursday | Thursday, March 25, 2027 |
| Good Friday | Friday, March 26, 2027 |
| Holy Saturday | Saturday, March 27, 2027 |
| Easter Sunday | Sunday, March 28, 2027 |
| Easter Monday | Monday, March 29, 2027 |
| Ascension Day (39 days after Easter) | Thursday, May 6, 2027 |
| Pentecost (49 days after Easter) | Sunday, May 16, 2027 |
Ash Wednesday always comes 46 days before Easter, and Mardi Gras is the day before it. Follow the days left on our Easter countdown, the Good Friday countdown or the Ash Wednesday countdown.
How the date of Easter is set
Easter is a movable feast. The rule traces back to the Council of Nicaea in 325 and, in plain English, works like this:
- Start from March 21, which the church treats as the fixed date of the spring equinox.
- Find the first full moon on or after March 21. This is the “paschal full moon.”
- Easter is the next Sunday after that full moon. If the full moon falls on a Sunday, Easter is the Sunday after.
The full moon in the rule is an “ecclesiastical” moon taken from church tables, not the astronomical full moon, as the US Naval Observatory explains. In 2027 the sky gives the same answer as the tables: the astronomical equinox is on Saturday, March 20, the first full moon after it is on Monday, March 22 (6:44 a.m. Eastern, per our 2027 moon calendar), and the next Sunday is March 28.
Because the moon and the week both have to line up, Easter can fall on any date from March 22 to April 25. The latest possible date, April 25, next happens in 2038. The earliest Easter in the coming years is March 25, 2035.
Easter dates, 2026 to 2030
| Year | Good Friday | Easter Sunday | Orthodox Easter |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Friday, April 3 | Sunday, April 5 | Sunday, April 12 |
| 2027 | Friday, March 26 | Sunday, March 28 | Sunday, May 2 |
| 2028 | Friday, April 14 | Sunday, April 16 | Sunday, April 16 |
| 2029 | Friday, March 30 | Sunday, April 1 | Sunday, April 8 |
| 2030 | Friday, April 19 | Sunday, April 21 | Check your parish calendar |
Orthodox dates come from the published movable-feast calendar of the American Carpatho-Russian Orthodox Diocese. In 2028 both churches celebrate Easter on the same Sunday, April 16.
Why Orthodox Easter is later in 2027
Western churches (Catholic and Protestant) apply the Easter rule with the Gregorian calendar. Most Orthodox churches still use the older tables based on the Julian calendar, both for the March 21 starting point and for the paschal full moon. The Julian calendar now runs behind the Gregorian one, so the Orthodox calculation usually lands later.
The result is that Orthodox Easter is usually later than Western Easter, and sometimes on the same day. The table above shows a one-week gap in 2026 and 2029 and the same day in 2028. 2027 has the biggest gap in the table: Western Easter on March 28 and Orthodox Easter on May 2, exactly 35 days apart. If your family or workplace observes both, the two Holy Weeks don’t overlap at all this year.
Good Friday and Easter Monday: what’s open
- Federal offices and the Postal Service: open on Good Friday. It isn’t a federal holiday.
- Banks: Good Friday isn’t on the Federal Reserve’s holiday schedule, so most banks are open on March 26, 2027.
- Stock market: the New York Stock Exchange is closed on Good Friday, March 26, 2027, according to its holiday calendar. For every 2027 market closure, see our stock market holidays guide.
- Schools and states: some states and many school districts close on Good Friday or schedule spring break around Easter. Check your local calendar.
- Easter Monday: a normal working day in the US, but a public holiday in many other countries. In the UK it’s a bank holiday in England, Wales and Northern Ireland on March 29, 2027; see the UK’s 2027 bank holidays.
Planning around Easter 2027
An early Easter can bring spring break forward for schools that tie it to Easter. A few timing details to keep in mind:
- The clocks change on Easter morning in Europe. The UK and the EU move their clocks forward on the last Sunday of March, which is Easter Sunday, March 28, 2027. Anyone attending a sunrise service in Europe that morning gets an hour less sleep. US clocks change two weeks earlier, on March 14.
- Passover is late. Passover begins at sundown on Tuesday, April 20, 2027, more than three weeks after Easter, so the two holidays are well apart this year.
- Travel abroad. Good Friday and Easter Monday are public holidays in many countries, which makes Easter a four-day weekend there. If you’re traveling or working with teams overseas, expect offices to be closed from Friday, March 26 through Monday, March 29.
Frequently asked questions
What is the date of Easter 2027?
Sunday, March 28, 2027. Good Friday is March 26, Palm Sunday is March 21 and Ash Wednesday is February 10.
When is Orthodox Easter 2027?
Sunday, May 2, 2027, five weeks after Western Easter. The difference comes from the Orthodox use of Julian calendar tables.
Is Good Friday a federal holiday?
No. Federal offices, post offices and most banks are open on Good Friday, March 26, 2027. The New York Stock Exchange is closed.
What’s the earliest and latest Easter can be?
Easter can fall on any date from March 22 to April 25. The next April 25 Easter is in 2038, and the earliest Easter in the coming years is March 25, 2035.
Why does Easter change every year?
Easter depends on the first full moon on or after March 21 and on the day of the week, so it moves by up to five weeks from year to year. In 2026 it fell on April 5; in 2027 it’s March 28; in 2028 it’s April 16.