Easter Dates 2013

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Easter day always falls on a Sunday however the date of Easter Sunday is different each year. The reason for this is that it was decided that the date of Easter should be calculated using a luni-solar calendar, whereby Easter day would always fall on the Sunday following the first full moon after the first day of Spring (March 21).

Because of this Easter can fall as early as 22 March or as late as 25 April in Western Christianity. Due to the movement of the date of Easter Sunday, Easter is referred to as a movable feast.

The date of Easter also differs according to where it is being celebrated in the world. In western Christianity the calendar used for calculating the date of Easter is the Gregorian calendar. Whereby in eastern (orthodox) Christianity the calendar used is the Julian calendar, meaning that Easter can fall as late as early May.

Because the date of Easter moves each year, so do a number of other Christian festivals that set their date by Easter. You can find details of these dates for 2013 below.

2013 Easter Dates (Western Christianity)

Ash Wednesday 2013 falls on Wednesday 13 February

Palm Sunday 2013 falls on Sunday 24 March

Maundy Thursday 2013 falls on Thursday 28 March

Good Friday 2013 falls on Friday 29 March

Holy Saturday 2013 falls on Saturday 30 March

Easter Sunday 2013 falls on Sunday 31 March

Easter Monday 2013 falls on Monday 1 April

Ascension 2013 falls on 9 May

Pentecost falls on 19 May

2013 Easter Dates (Orthodox Christianity)

Clean Monday 2013 falls on 18 March

Lazarus Saturday 2013 falls on 27 April

Palm Sunday 2013 falls on 28 April

Holy Friday 2013 falls on 3 May

Pascha 2013 (Easter Sunday) falls on 5 May

Ascension 2013 falls on 13 June

Pentecost falls on 23 June

Find out more information about how the Easter dates are calculated.