When is Easter?
Easter Date 2012
Easter is a moveable feast which means the date of Easter Sunday falls on a different day each year.
The date of Easter 2012 is Sunday 8 April 2012 (Western Christianity)
The date of Easter 2012 is Sunday 15 April 2012 (Eastern Orthodox Christianity)
Countdown to Easter
There are 63 days until Easter.
There are 1519 hours until Easter.
About Easter
The Easter season, also known as Eastertide, lasts for fifty days from Easter to Pentecost and signals the end of Lent, a forty day period of fasting, prayer and penitance.
Easter is the Christian religious feast that celebrates the resurrection of Jesus Christ on the third day after his crucifixion. Easter is also known as Pascha in Eastern (Orthodox) Christianity.
The date of Easter is set on a luni-solar calendar, which follows the cycle of the moon, and typically falls between late March and late April (Western Christianity)and early April to early May (Eastern Orthodox Christianity).
Easter is an important season in the church year by which other dates in the religious calendar are set.
Easter Dates 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015
Easter Dates (Western Christianity)
| 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | |
| Ash Wednesday | 22 Feb | 13 Feb | 5 Mar | 25 Feb |
| Palm Sunday | 1 Apr | 24 Mar | 13 Apr | 29 Mar |
| Maundy Thursday | 5 Apr | 28 Mar | 17 Apr | 2 Apr |
| Good Friday | 6 Apr | 29 Mar | 18 Apr | 3 Apr |
| Holy Saturday | 7 Apr | 30 Mar | 19 Apr | 4 Apr |
| Easter Sunday | 8 Apr | 31 Mar | 20 Apr | 5 Apr |
| Easter Monday | 9 Apr | 1 Apr | 21 Apr | 6 Apr |
| Ascension | 17 May | 9 May | 29 May | 14 May |
| Pentecost | 27 May | 19 May | 8 Jun | 24 May |
Orthodox Easter Dates
| 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | |
| Clean Monday | 27 Feb | 18 Mar | 10 Mar | 23 Feb |
| Lazarus Saturday | 7 Apr | 27 Apr | 12 Apr | 4 Apr |
| Palm Sunday | 8 Apr | 28 Apr | 13 Apr | 5 Apr |
| Holy Friday | 13 Apr | 3 May | 18 Apr | 10 Apr |
| Easter Sunday (Pascha) | 15 Apr | 5 May | 20 Apr | 12 Apr |
| Ascension | 24 May | 13 Jun | 29 May | 21 May |
| Pentecost | 3 Jun | 23 Jun | 8 Jun | 31 May |
Easter Activities
Stuck for things to do over Easter? Have a go at one of our great ideas for keeping the kids (and the young at heart) amused over the Easter holidays.
Make an Easter bonnet.
Design and send an Easter card.
Take part in an egg rolling competition.
Dress up as pirates to search out your booty in an Easter egg hunt.
Decorate your house and garden with painted eggs.
More fun ideas for Easter Sunday.