Orthodox Easter 2026

When Is Orthodox Easter in 2026?

In 2026, Orthodox Easter falls on April 12. The observance lasts 1 day (preceded by Holy Week; Paschal season 40 days). Because Orthodox Easter follows a First Sunday after the first full moon on or after the vernal equinox per the Julian calendar (April 3 Gregorian); must follow Jewish Passover, the exact Gregorian date shifts each year. Calculated using the Julian calendar's equinox (13 days behind Gregorian through 2100) and constrained to fall after Passover. As a result, Orthodox Easter is usually 1 week to 5 weeks later than Western Easter, and occasionally the same day (2028). Some Middle Eastern Orthodox churches (e.g., Finnish Orthodox) use the Gregorian computus and align with Western Easter. Since Orthodox Easter's date changes from year to year, here are the dates for the next five years so you can plan ahead: Year Date 2026 April 12 2027 May 2 2028 April 16 2029 April 8 2030 April 28

What Time Does Orthodox Easter Start in Your Time Zone?

Orthodox Easter is calculated using the Julian calendar's ecclesiastical rules, which currently run 13 days behind the Gregorian calendar. The Orthodox church has not adopted the Gregorian (or Revised Julian) calendar for calculating Easter, although some Orthodox churches (Greek, Romanian, Antiochian) have adopted it for fixed-date feasts. The result is that Orthodox Easter falls on a different Gregorian date than Western Easter in most years. In 2026, the rare alignment occurs — both celebrations fall on April 5. The midnight Easter service means that the actual moment of Pascha is celebrated at different clock times in different time zones. A service in Athens begins around 11 PM local time, while a service in New York (for Greek Orthodox Americans) also begins around 11 PM local time — even though these are 7 hours apart in absolute time. Communities in the diaspora follow the same liturgical schedule as the mother church, which means that Greek, Russian, Serbian, and Romanian Orthodox parishes in the United States all hold their services on the same night, regardless of their country of origin. The table below shows the observance date for Orthodox Easter in major time zones around the world: Location Observance Date Time Zone New York, USA April 12 EST/EDT (UTC-5/-4) London, UK April 12 GMT/BST (UTC+0/+1) New Delhi, India April 12 IST (UTC+5:30) Sydney, Australia April 12 AEST/AEDT (UTC+10/+11) Dubai, UAE April 12 GST (UTC+4)

The Story Behind Orthodox Easter

Orthodox Easter — called Pascha in Greek and Russian, from the Hebrew Pesach (Passover) — is the most important day in the Eastern Orthodox Christian calendar, celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The theological significance is identical to Western Easter, but the date, liturgical style, and cultural traditions are distinctly Eastern. Orthodox Easter is celebrated by some 220 million Orthodox Christians worldwide, including the majority of the populations of Russia, Greece, Serbia, Romania, Bulgaria, Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Ethiopia, and Egypt (Coptic Orthodox). The reason Orthodox and Western Easter often fall on different dates is historical and calendrical. The Council of Nicaea in 325 CE established that Easter falls on the first Sunday after the first full moon following the vernal equinox. But the Western church calculates this using the Gregorian calendar (introduced in 1582), while the Eastern Orthodox church still uses the older Julian calendar, in which the vernal equinox currently falls 13 days later than in the Gregorian calendar (April 3 instead of March 21). The Orthodox church also follows the ancient rule that Easter must fall after the Jewish Passover, while the Western calculation does not strictly enforce this. The result is that Orthodox Easter can fall on the same day as Western Easter, one week later, or even up to five weeks later. In 2026, both East and West celebrate on April 5 — a rare alignment that happens every few years.

How Orthodox Easter Is Celebrated

The Orthodox Easter service is one of the most dramatic and beautiful liturgies in Christianity. It begins late on Saturday night — typically around 11 PM or midnight — with the priest and congregation gathered in darkness around the church. At the stroke of midnight, the priest emerges from the sanctuary carrying a single lit candle and announces "Christ is risen!" (Christos anesti in Greek, Khristos voskrese in Russian, Christos a inviat in Romanian). The congregation responds "He is truly risen!" and lights their own candles from the priest's flame. The light spreads outward through the church, and the congregation processes outside, circling the church three times while singing the resurrection hymn. After the midnight service, families return home to break the Lenten fast with a feast. The signature foods are distinctive: in Greece and Cyprus, the meal centers on mageiritsa, a soup made from lamb offal and avgolemono (egg-lemon sauce), followed by roast lamb. Tsoureki, a sweet braided bread, is served, and red-dyed eggs are cracked against each other in a game called tsougrisma — the holder of the last uncracked egg is said to have good luck for the year. In Russia, the meal features kulich, a tall sweet bread glazed with icing, and paskha, a sweet cheese dessert shaped like a pyramid. In Romania, cozonac (a sweet nut-filled bread) and drob (a lamb offal dish) are traditional. The Orthodox Lenten fast is strict — no meat, dairy, fish, oil, or wine for the entire 40 days — so the Easter feast is genuinely a moment of release. Why Does Orthodox Easter Move Every Year? Orthodox Easter is calculated by the Julian computus, which uses the Julian calendar's March 21 equinox and the 19-year Metonic cycle for the full moon. Because the Julian calendar is 13 days behind the Gregorian at present (and the gap will widen to 14 days in 2100), the Orthodox ecclesiastical equinox falls on Gregorian April 3. This pushes the Orthodox Easter calculation later than the Western one in most years. The 13-day gap means Orthodox Easter can fall anywhere from April 4 to May 8 on the Gregorian calendar. When the Western Easter falls early in March, Orthodox Easter is usually a month or more later. When Western Easter falls in late April, the two may coincide or be just a week apart. Between 1900 and 2100, the two dates coincide about 30% of the time, are one week apart about 45% of the time, and are separated by a month or more about 25% of the time. The next long gap (5 weeks) occurs in 2024.

Calendar Calculation

First Sunday after the first full moon on or after the vernal equinox per the Julian calendar (April 3 Gregorian); must follow Jewish Passover

Traveling for Orthodox Easter? Where to Go

Orthodox Easter is a major travel period in countries with large Orthodox populations. In Greece, the island of Corfu is famous for its Easter Saturday tradition of throwing clay pots from balconies onto the streets below, and the island of Chios is known for the rocket war between two rival parishes. In Russia, the Paschal service at the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow, attended by President Putin and broadcast nationwide, is the centerpiece of the holiday. Pilgrims also travel to Jerusalem's Church of the Holy Sepulchre for the Holy Fire ceremony, in which a blue light is said to spontaneously emerge from Jesus's tomb. Top destinations for this holiday: Athens: — A popular destination with significant celebrations and cultural events. Jerusalem: — A popular destination with significant celebrations and cultural events. Moscow: — A popular destination with significant celebrations and cultural events. Bucharest: — A popular destination with significant celebrations and cultural events. Thessaloniki: — A popular destination with significant celebrations and cultural events. If you're planning to travel for orthodox easter, compare hotel rates and book early — accommodations in Athens fill up weeks before the festival. [Search hotels for Orthodox Easter travel →]

Did You Know? Orthodox Easter Facts & Trivia

Orthodox Easter is calculated using the Julian calendar's ecclesiastical rules, which currently run 13 days behind the Gregorian calendar. This is why Orthodox Easter often falls on a different date than Western Easter — the gap will widen to 14 days in the year 2100. The red-dyed eggs cracked against each other on Orthodox Easter — a game called tsougrisma in Greek — symbolize the blood of Christ and the rolling away of the stone from his tomb. The holder of the last uncracked egg is said to have good luck for the year. In Greece, the Easter midnight service ends with the lighting of candles from a single holy flame. The flame is then carried home, and families use it to light a candle in their homes and to mark a cross on their doorways with the candle's soot for protection. The Holy Fire ceremony at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem — held on Orthodox Holy Saturday — is one of the most distinctive Orthodox traditions. A blue light is said to spontaneously emerge from Jesus's tomb and is used to light the candles of the patriarch, who then passes the flame to the congregation.