April is here! The month which is full of chocolates, eggs and jokes. More importantly it’s the month of the Christian festival of Easter.
Easter is a national holiday in the UK, and is all about celebrating, fun, and stuffing your face with endless about of chocolates Easter eggs.
But what exactly is Easter, and why is the festival on a different date each year?
Firstly, Easter falls on Sunday 1st April this year, where many of us can enjoy a four-day weekend thanks to Good Friday and Easter Monday.
The Easter weekend dates are as follows:
Good Friday: 30th March
Saturday 31st Match
Sunday 1st April: Easter
Monday 2nd April
The Sunday was the day that Jesus rose from the dead, after he was crucified on Friday which we know it now as Good Friday. The resurrection of Christ, whose body was found to have disappeared from the tomb he was placed in on Sunday, is the reason Easter is celebrated.
For Christians, Good Friday is seen as a solemn day of mourning.
Many churches hold processions or open-air services in public places to draw attention to the day of Jesus’ death. Some churches also hold meditative services and temporarily remove decorations such as flowers or statues.
On the day of festival, families gather and prepare a family meal (normally a roast), hunt for Easter Eggs and take part in many different Easter activities such as pancake racing, orange rolling, bottle kicking and many more. The date of the festival moves around each year because its what we call a moveable feast. It can happen on any Sunday between 22nd March and 25th April.
Many churches hold processions or open-air services in public places to draw attention to the day of Jesus’ death.
People also take part in hundreds of egg hunts that take place all over the country, where adults and children join in on the fun to find as much chocolate as they can.
Finally, everyone in the UK is treated to Bank Holidays!
