When is Easter 2024? - when is lent 2024? - how long does lent last?

The Christian celebration of Easter is a movable feast that is observed on a Sunday between March 22 and April 25.
By Gemma Murray
Published 13th Feb 2024, 14:45 GMT
Updated 13th Feb 2024, 15:01 GMT
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When is Easter 2024?

This year in 2024 Easter is on Sunday March 31.

Eastern Orthodox Christians will celebrate the holy day on Sunday May 5.

How is the date of Easter determined?

In the year 325, the Council of Nicaea ordered a confusing situation of varying dates in different places by decreeing Easter should be celebrated on the first Sunday after the first full moon on or after the Spring Equinox.

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If that full moon falls on a Sunday, then Easter is the following Sunday.

The council's decree eventually became the standard.

What are the holidays for Easter 2024?

  • Palm Sunday, Mar 24, 2024
  • Maundy Thursday, Mar 28, 2024
  • Good Friday, Mar 29, 2024
  • Holy Saturday, Mar 30, 2024
  • Easter Monday, Apr 1, 2024
  • When is lent?
It’s a flipping great time this Pancake Tuesday at Visit Belfast Welcome Centre as Ffion Aiken from new Belfast business, Baker & Chef, gets creative with visitors to the city decorating their own pancakes and pancake flipping. Ffion is joined by Visit Belfast’s Mairead Graham.It’s a flipping great time this Pancake Tuesday at Visit Belfast Welcome Centre as Ffion Aiken from new Belfast business, Baker & Chef, gets creative with visitors to the city decorating their own pancakes and pancake flipping. Ffion is joined by Visit Belfast’s Mairead Graham.
It’s a flipping great time this Pancake Tuesday at Visit Belfast Welcome Centre as Ffion Aiken from new Belfast business, Baker & Chef, gets creative with visitors to the city decorating their own pancakes and pancake flipping. Ffion is joined by Visit Belfast’s Mairead Graham.

In 2024 Lent takes place from February 14 (ash Wednesday) through March 28 (which is Holy Thursday).

Some denominations observe Lent through Holy Saturday, which would be March 30.

  • When is Pancake Tuesday?

It is on February 13, 2024

Shrove Tuesday, also known as Pancake Day, is a beloved and delicious tradition observed in many countries around the world. It is a Christian tradition that marks the day before the start of Lent.

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It’s a day of preparation and feasting before the 40-day period of fasting and reflection leading up to Easter.

On this day, many people indulge in pancakes as a way to use up rich and indulgent ingredients like eggs, milk, and sugar before the fasting period begins.

  • When is Ash Wednesday? In 2024 it is on February 14

Ash Wednesday marks the start of the Lenten period leading up to Easter, when Christians believe Jesus was resurrected.

The ashes symbolize both death and repentance.

During this period, Christians show repentance and mourning for their sins, because they believe Christ died for them.

  • Why is lent 40 days long?
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Forty is typically indicative of a time of testing, trial, penance, purification, and renewal and in the New Testament, forty days is the length of Jesus' time of trial in the desert in preparation for his public ministry, proclaiming the Gospel.

Related topics:Jesus