Easter officially celebrates the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, described in the New Testament as occurring three days after his crucifixion by the Romans around 30 AD. It is the central event of the Christian faith rather than just a spring holiday with candy and flowers.

The date of Easter was standardized in 325 AD at the First Council of Nicaea, which declared it would be celebrated on the first Sunday after the first full moon on or after the spring equinox, meaning astronomy literally determines your chocolate schedule.

Because Easter is based on both the solar year and the lunar cycle, it can fall anywhere between March 22 and April 25 in Western Christianity, making it one of the most unpredictable major holidays on the calendar.

Western churches calculate Easter using the Gregorian calendar, while many Eastern Orthodox churches use the Julian calendar. This is why Orthodox Easter often lands on a different date and can even be weeks later.

In 2025, both Western and Eastern Christians celebrate Easter on April 20, a coincidence that only happens in certain years when the calendar calculations align.

In most languages around the world, Easter is not called “Easter” at all but a variation of “Pascha,” derived from the Hebrew word for Passover, as both are religious celebrations that occur in the spring.

The English word “Easter” traces back to an Anglo Saxon goddess named Ēostre, according to the 8th century monk Bede, who recorded that a spring month was once named in her honor.

Early Christians timed Easter in relation to the Jewish Passover because, according to the Gospels, Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection occurred during Passover week.

Easter concludes Lent, a 40 day period of fasting, prayer, and reflection that begins on Ash Wednesday and prepares believers spiritually for the celebration.

The week leading up to Easter is called Holy Week and includes Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday, each commemorating events from the final days of Jesus’ life.

Maundy Thursday commemorates the Last Supper, when Jesus shared a Passover meal with his disciples and reinterpreted the bread and wine as symbols of his body and blood.

Good Friday marks the crucifixion of Jesus and is observed as a solemn day of mourning, despite Christianity teaching that his sacrifice was the greatest gift given to the world.

Many churches begin celebrating Easter late Saturday night with an Easter Vigil service that includes candlelight, Scripture readings, and the symbolic transition from darkness to light. In Eastern Christianity, the midnight service marking Easter begins in darkness, and at midnight a candle is lit to symbolize the resurrection, with the flame passed throughout the congregation.

Eastertide, also called the Paschal season, lasts for seven weeks from Easter Sunday to Pentecost, making the celebration far longer than just a single weekend.

The egg became a symbol of Easter because it represents new life and rebirth, which Christians connected to the resurrection of Jesus. However, egg related spring customs existed before Christianity.

Early Christians in Mesopotamia dyed eggs red to symbolize the blood of Christ shed at the crucifixion, creating one of the oldest known Easter customs.

From 1885 to 1916, the House of Fabergé crafted luxurious jeweled Easter eggs for the Russian imperial family, turning the humble egg into an object of royal art.

The modern chocolate Easter egg became popular in the 19th century, and the British company Cadbury began producing them in 1875.

The Easter Bunny tradition originated in an Pagan Germany, where children believed a hare would lay colored eggs for well behaved youngsters. The Easter Bunny later became widely popular in American culture and functions much like Santa Claus, delivering treats to children who leave out baskets overnight.

In Australia, where rabbits are considered pests, some people promote the Easter Bilby as a native, wildlife friendly alternative to the Easter Bunny.

Lamb is a traditional Easter meal in many countries because it connects to the Jewish Passover lamb and the Christian belief in Jesus as the “Lamb of God.”

Hot cross buns, marked with a cross and traditionally eaten on Good Friday, symbolize the crucifixion and often contain spices representing those used in burial.

In Greece, Easter eggs are traditionally dyed bright red to symbolize both the blood of Christ and the promise of eternal life.

In Italy, Easter is such a major celebration that both Easter Sunday and Easter Monday are national holidays, extending the festivities into a long weekend.

In Nordic countries like Norway and Denmark, multiple days around Easter, including Maundy Thursday and Easter Monday, are public holidays, and many families take extended vacations.

A 2014 poll found that 6 out of 10 Norwegians travel during Easter, often to countryside cabins, where skiing has become a surprisingly common holiday activity.

In the United Kingdom, Good Friday and Easter Monday are bank holidays, though Easter Sunday itself is not an official public holiday because it already falls on a Sunday.

In the United States of America, Easter is not a federal holiday, even though it is widely celebrated with church services, family meals, and public events.

Since 1878, the U.S. president has hosted an annual Easter Egg Roll on the White House lawn, turning egg games into a national tradition.

The Easter lily became a symbol of the resurrection in Western Christianity and traditionally decorates church sanctuaries during Easter services.

Some Protestant groups historically rejected Easter celebrations altogether because the Bible does not explicitly command the observance of the holiday.

Jehovah’s Witnesses do not celebrate Easter because of its ties to paganism but instead observe a yearly memorial of the Last Supper on the date corresponding to Nisan 14 in the Hebrew calendar.

Quakers historically refused to observe Easter and other holy days, believing that every day should be considered equally sacred rather than elevating specific dates.

The calculation of Easter relies on an ecclesiastical Paschal full moon, which does not always match the actual astronomical full moon, showing how tradition and science intersect in church history.