Expect plenty of these creepy egg munchers next year (Picture: MylesGoode)

This year’s Easter weekend has kicked off to a gloriously sunny start for many.

It’s helped by the Bank Holiday falling in the middle of April, rather than at the end of March.

Why, as a Christian, Easter is more important to me than Christmas

But in 2018, not only will we be chasing white rabbits rather than bunnies, we’ll probably all be chasing Wombles, Clangers and Ewoks around the garden instead of hunting for eggs.

Yes… that’s because Easter 2018 will coincide with April Fools’ Day – the 1st of April 2018.


And no, this isn’t a joke. Good Friday will fall on March 30, Holy Saturday on March 31 and Easter Monday on April 2.



The date Easter Sunday falls varies every year.

It can fall as early as March or even as late as May (according to the Gregorian calendar) with the eastern church.

The reason the date changes so much is because Easter must fall on ‘the first Sunday after the vernal equinox – i.e the first full moon after March 21’.

However, Easter does vary in date around the world due to churches following different calendars.

The western church follows the Gregorian calendar while the eastern church is based on the Julian calendar.

There is a 13-day difference between the two due to adding leap days to keep the calendars in sync with the solar year.

The Gregorian and Julian calendars add leap days every four years, but the Gregorian skips leap days at the turn of centuries (unless that year is divisible by 400), as explained by Rev David Holwick.

‘Since the Julian calendar doesn’t do this, it gains about three days every four centuries. The Orthodox church uses the Julian calendar and so its Christmas and Easter are almost always different (Easter adds even more complexity because it has a lunar dimension as well),’ he said.

‘The 13-day difference will grow over time until the Orthodox Christmas is in July (and eventually on the same December 25 as Catholics).’

What is Easter all about?

Hunting down the Easter bunny and scoffing chocolate eggs might be the what most people do around Easter time, but the public holiday is actually the day Jesus is said to have risen from the dead.

This is a huge celebration for Christians, not only because Jesus came back to them, but also because his return demonstrated that there must be an afterlife.

On Easter Sunday itself, the bible tells how Mary Magdalene visited Jesus’s tomb and discovered that the stone entrance had been removed and his body was missing.

Why is the day called Easter?

Eating Easter Egg (Picture: Getty)

There isn’t actually a reference to Easter in the bible – neither is there a reference to Christmas – so the origins of the word are thought to have come much later.

Some believe that the name ‘Easter’ comes from Pagan times when the goddess of fertility and spring – ‘Eastra’ – was worshipped.

Others believe the word dates back to the Frankish church who celebrated the ‘alba’ (sunrise) when celebrating Christ’s resurrection, a word that translates as ‘Ostern’ in German, which some suggest then evolved into ‘Easter’.



How is Easter celebrated?

Easter eggs (Picture: Alamy)

Christians celebrating Easter are likely to attend a special Easter sermon, followed by a large family meal and lots of chocolate eggs.

Eggs symbolise new life and are eaten during Easter to symbolise the new life given to Jesus after his resurrection on Easter Sunday.

The shape of the egg also looks like a tomb – and the cracked egg symbolises the empty tomb.

Eating eggs was forbidden during the Holy Week, and instead, they were saved, decorated and gifted to children.

It wasn’t until the 19th century that the first chocolate eggs appeared in France and Germany, and this tradition has now carried on.

How can I get involved?

Easter eggs (Picture: Getty)

You can visit your local church for their Easter sermon.

Easter Egg hunts are also a popular activity and some of the best ones can be found here.

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