When is Easter 2021? And why does it change every year?

25 January 2021, 16:48 | Updated: 25 January 2021, 17:04

Easter dates for 2021 are a week earlier than last year but when are they? What are the bank holidays days? Here are the important dates for your diary.

A third coronavirus lockdown in England has got everyone thinking forward to Easter 2021, especially with the promise of the easing of restrictions around that time.

With the Easter holidays and bank holiday dates this 2021 being a whole week earlier than in 2020 - people are looking to see when Easter falls this year and the exact reason they change every year.

And it won’t just be Easter festivities people are looking forward to but the possibility of schools returning, reopening of facilities and of course, some warmer weather.

When does the third national lockdown end?

Here’s when Easter falls this year and how you can work out when it falls next year:

When is Easter and the bank holidays in 2021?

Easter this year falls on Sunday, April 4th with Good Friday on April 2nd and Easter Monday on April 5th.

Both Good Friday and Easter Monday are UK bank holidays.

Easter school holidays in England 2021 will begin on Thursday, April 1 and last on average for two weeks.

Boris Johnson: Things will be better by Easter

Why do the Easter dates change every year?

In general, the Easter holidays can fall between March 22 and April 25.

The way the dates are worked out are calculated using the seven-day week and the cycle of the phases of the moon.

To be specific, it’s worked out from the first Sunday after the first full moon following the Spring equinox in March - when the sun moves north across the celestial equator.

As we now work off the solar, Gregorian calendar rather than a lunar one, it means the full moon falls on a different date every year.

This results in some churches celebrating Easter on different days as not everyone follows the same calendar.

The decision to pick Easter dates this way goes as far back as the Council of Nicaea in 325 AD, the first major church council.