Easter Sunday 2027 falls on Sunday, March 28, 2027. It is one of the earliest Easters of the decade — only six days after March 22, the earliest date Easter can ever fall. Palm Sunday is March 21, Good Friday is March 26, and the White House Easter Egg Roll follows on Easter Monday, March 29 (date to be confirmed). Orthodox Easter comes five weeks later, on Sunday, May 2, 2027.
Easter is the most important festival in the Christian calendar, celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ — and for millions of Americans who do not attend church, it is also a spring celebration of family, food, egg hunts and new beginnings. This guide covers the full 2027 calendar, why the date moves every year, the history behind the bunny and the eggs, how Americans actually spend the day, and what is open and closed.
Easter 2027 at a Glance
| What | Date in 2027 |
|---|---|
| Easter Sunday (Western) | Sunday, March 28, 2027 |
| Palm Sunday | Sunday, March 21, 2027 |
| Maundy (Holy) Thursday | Thursday, March 25, 2027 |
| Good Friday | Friday, March 26, 2027 |
| Holy Saturday | Saturday, March 27, 2027 |
| Easter Monday | Monday, March 29, 2027 |
| Orthodox Easter (Pascha) | Sunday, May 2, 2027 |
| Ascension Day | Thursday, May 6, 2027 |
| Pentecost (Whitsunday) | Sunday, May 16, 2027 |
Because Easter arrives so early in 2027, Lent begins early too: Ash Wednesday is February 10, 2027, just four days before Valentine’s Day. If you are planning a spring break, a church service or a family gathering, the whole season compresses into late February and March — book travel and egg-hunt venues sooner than you did in 2026, when Easter fell on April 5.
Why Does Easter Move Every Year?
Easter is the only major Christian festival set by the Moon rather than by a fixed calendar date. The rule, agreed at the First Council of Nicaea in 325 AD, is simple to state and surprising in practice: Easter Sunday is the first Sunday after the first full moon on or after March 21 — the church’s fixed date for the spring equinox, known as the Paschal full moon.
Here is how the rule works out for 2027:
- Saturday, March 20, 2027 — the astronomical spring equinox.
- Monday, March 22, 2027 — the Paschal full moon, the first full moon after the equinox (the Full Worm Moon).
- Sunday, March 28, 2027 — the first Sunday after that full moon. That is Easter.
That is also why Easter can never fall before March 22 or after April 25 in the Western church — a range of just 35 possible dates. In 2027 it lands near the very early end of that range; in 2030 it will land near the late end, on April 21. And it explains the gap with Orthodox Easter: Eastern Orthodox churches still calculate the date on the older Julian calendar, so their Easter usually falls later — in 2027, a full five weeks later, on May 2. In some years the two Easters coincide; 2028 is one of those years, when both fall on April 16.
Holy Week 2027: Day by Day
Holy Week is the final week of Lent, running from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday. Each day remembers a different part of the story Christians tell in the days before the resurrection.
| Day | Date | What it remembers |
|---|---|---|
| Palm Sunday | Sunday, March 21 | Jesus enters Jerusalem; crowds wave palm branches. Many churches hand out palm crosses. |
| Holy Monday–Wednesday | March 22–24 | Jesus teaches in the Temple; the plot against him takes shape. |
| Maundy Thursday | Thursday, March 25 | The Last Supper. Many churches hold evening services and foot-washing ceremonies. |
| Good Friday | Friday, March 26 | The crucifixion. A solemn day of fasting and prayer; the New York Stock Exchange is closed. |
| Holy Saturday | Saturday, March 27 | The quiet day between crucifixion and resurrection; the Easter Vigil is held after dark. |
| Easter Sunday | Sunday, March 28 | The resurrection — the celebration itself. |
Lent, the 40 days of fasting and preparation before Easter (Sundays excluded), runs from Ash Wednesday, February 10, to Holy Saturday, March 27, 2027. For the dates in full, see our guide to Ash Wednesday 2027.
When Is Easter in Other Years?
Easter never repeats on the same date two years running, so a quick reference table saves a lot of searching. Western dates are the ones used by Catholic and most Protestant churches in the United States.
| Year | Western Easter Sunday | Orthodox Easter Sunday |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Sunday, April 5 | Sunday, April 12 |
| 2027 | Sunday, March 28 | Sunday, May 2 |
| 2028 | Sunday, April 16 | Sunday, April 16 |
| 2029 | Sunday, April 1 | Sunday, April 8 |
| 2030 | Sunday, April 21 | Sunday, April 28 |
| 2031 | Sunday, April 13 | Sunday, April 13 |
| 2032 | Sunday, March 28 | Sunday, May 2 |
Two curiosities worth noting: Easter 2029 falls on April Fools’ Day, and Easter 2032 lands on exactly the same date as 2027 — March 28.
What Does Easter Mean, and Where Did It Come From?
For Christians, Easter celebrates the resurrection of Jesus Christ on the third day after his crucifixion — the event the whole faith turns on. The word “Easter” itself is debated: the Venerable Bede, writing in the 8th century, linked it to Eostre, a spring goddess of the Anglo-Saxons, while other scholars trace it to the Old High German word for dawn. What is certain is that the festival grew out of the Jewish Passover — the Last Supper was a Passover meal, and the earliest Christians first celebrated Easter on the same date as Passover before the Council of Nicaea fixed the Sunday rule in 325 AD.
Two of Easter’s most familiar symbols arrived much later, and neither started out Christian:
- The Easter Bunny. The hare as a spring symbol goes back to pre-Christian Europe, but the Easter Bunny as Americans know it came with German immigrants to Pennsylvania in the 1700s. Their “Osterhase” — a hare that laid coloured eggs for good children — spread across the country through the 19th century and became the chocolate-and-plush figure of today.
- Decorated eggs. Eggs have symbolised new life for thousands of years, and Christians adopted them as a symbol of the empty tomb and the resurrection. Early Christians in Mesopotamia stained eggs red to represent Christ’s blood; the Ukrainian art of pysanky — eggs decorated with wax and dye — is centuries old. Egg rolling, meanwhile, came to represent the stone rolled away from the tomb.
Easter’s other great tradition is the sunrise service — an outdoor service at dawn on Easter morning, held on hilltops, beaches and church lawns across the country. The most famous is probably the one at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, held since 1921.
How Americans Celebrate Easter
About 80% of Americans celebrate Easter, according to the National Retail Federation’s annual survey — and they spend more on it every year. In 2026, Easter spending was expected to reach a record $24.9 billion, or about $195.59 per person celebrating, up from $23.6 billion in 2025 and $22.4 billion in 2024. Food leads the spending at $7.5 billion, followed by gifts ($3.9 billion), clothing ($3.7 billion), candy ($3.5 billion) and flowers ($2.2 billion).
What does a typical American Easter actually look like? A few patterns show up year after year:
- Church first, then family. For observant Christians the day starts with a morning service — often the best-attended service of the year after Christmas — followed by a family meal.
- The egg hunt. The centrepiece for children: coloured eggs (real or plastic, filled with candy) hidden in a yard or park. Community hunts run by towns, churches and parks departments usually happen on the Saturday before Easter, March 27 in 2027.
- Easter baskets. Chocolate bunnies, jelly beans, marshmallow Peeps and small toys, left by the Easter Bunny overnight. Peeps alone sell in the hundreds of millions each spring.
- Brunch and ham. The Easter meal in most American homes is brunch or an early dinner built around baked ham, lamb, or both, with hot cross buns, devilled eggs and spring vegetables.
- New clothes. The tradition of a new Easter outfit — the Easter bonnet, made famous by the 1948 film of the same name — survives in the form of spring dresses and pastel colours.
- Parades. New York’s Easter Parade on Fifth Avenue, a tradition since the 1870s, is still the most famous: thousands of people in elaborate bonnets and spring finery strolling from St Patrick’s Cathedral to 57th Street.
For ideas that build on the season, see our Mardi Gras 2027 guide — the festival that ends the day before Lent begins — and our Lunar New Year 2027 guide, the other great spring festival on the American calendar.
The White House Easter Egg Roll
America’s most famous Easter event is the White House Easter Egg Roll, held on the South Lawn on Easter Monday — March 29, 2027. The tradition began in 1878, when children who had been turned away from the Capitol grounds (Congress had passed the Turf Protection Law in 1876 after the 1876 egg roll damaged the lawn) walked to the White House and President Rutherford B. Hayes invited them to roll their eggs there instead.
Children race by rolling hard-boiled eggs with wooden spoons through lanes on the lawn, and the day now includes an egg hunt, storytelling, live music and the White House Easter Bunny, first introduced in 1969. The event is free but ticketed by lottery, and it has been held almost every year since 1878, cancelled only by war, bad weather and the pandemic. The 2027 date and ticket lottery had not been announced as of November 7, 2026 — check the White House website closer to the date.
Is Easter a Federal Holiday? What’s Open and Closed?
Easter Sunday is not a federal holiday in the United States — federal offices, banks and post offices simply follow their normal Sunday schedule, which means they are closed as usual. Good Friday is not a federal holiday either, but the New York Stock Exchange closes, and many state and local government offices, schools and businesses close or finish early.
- Open on Easter Sunday: most grocery stores (often with reduced hours), pharmacies, restaurants, movie theatres, and national parks. Many major retailers stay open, though some — including Target, Costco and Aldi — have closed on Easter in recent years, so check your local store before you go.
- Closed on Easter Sunday: banks, post offices, most government offices, and some retailers that close for the holiday.
- Good Friday, March 26, 2027: the stock market is closed, but federal offices and post offices operate normally. Many schools are closed, and some employers give the day off.
No 2027 Easter sales or deals are listed here: none were verified from official retailer sources at the time of writing (November 7, 2026), and prices change quickly in the run-up to the holiday. Check individual retailers’ official sites closer to March 2027.
Planning Ahead for Easter 2027
- Book travel early. Easter 2027 falls during spring-break season for many school districts, so flights and hotels around March 26–29 will be busy. Daylight saving time begins on Sunday, March 14, 2027 — two weeks before Easter — so check your clocks and sunrise-service times.
- Order Easter candy and baskets in advance. Online Easter candy and basket deliveries fill up in the last week before the holiday; ordering by mid-March is the safe bet.
- Reserve brunch. Popular Easter brunch spots book out weeks ahead, especially in cities. If you are eating out, reserve in late February.
- Check community egg hunts early. Town and church egg hunts on Saturday, March 27, often require registration — sign up when listings appear in early March.
- Mark the next one. Easter 2028 falls on April 16, 2028 — the rare year when Western and Orthodox Easter fall on the same day.
Frequently Asked Questions
When is Easter 2027?
Easter Sunday 2027 is on Sunday, March 28, 2027. Good Friday is March 26, Palm Sunday is March 21, and Easter Monday is March 29. Orthodox Easter is Sunday, May 2, 2027.
Why does Easter change every year?
Easter is set by the Moon, not by a fixed calendar date. Under the rule agreed at the Council of Nicaea in 325 AD, Easter is the first Sunday after the first full moon on or after March 21. In 2027 the Paschal full moon falls on Monday, March 22, so the following Sunday — March 28 — is Easter.
Is Easter a federal holiday in the US?
No. Easter Sunday is not a federal holiday, and neither is Good Friday. Federal offices follow their normal Sunday schedule on Easter, while the New York Stock Exchange is closed on Good Friday. Many schools and some businesses close on Good Friday, but that varies by state and employer.
When is Orthodox Easter 2027?
Orthodox Easter (Pascha) 2027 is Sunday, May 2, 2027 — five weeks after Western Easter. Orthodox churches calculate the date on the Julian calendar, which is why it usually falls later. In 2028 both Easters fall on the same day, April 16.
When is Good Friday 2027?
Good Friday 2027 is Friday, March 26, 2027, two days before Easter Sunday. It commemorates the crucifixion of Jesus.
What is the Easter Bunny?
The Easter Bunny is a folk figure brought to America by German immigrants to Pennsylvania in the 1700s. Their “Osterhase” — a hare that laid coloured eggs for children — grew into the modern bunny who leaves baskets of chocolate eggs and candy on Easter morning.
How long is Lent in 2027?
Lent 2027 runs for 40 fasting days (46 calendar days) from Ash Wednesday, February 10, 2027, to Holy Saturday, March 27, 2027. Sundays are not counted as fasting days.
What is the earliest Easter can be?
The earliest possible date for Western Easter is March 22, and the latest is April 25. Easter last fell on March 22 in 1818 and will not do so again until 2285.
Sources and References
- Farmers’ Almanac — When Is Easter? Dates & the Moon Rule
- U.S. National Park Service — History of the White House Easter Egg Roll
- Wikipedia — List of Dates for Easter
- LendingTree, citing the National Retail Federation — Holiday Spending Statistics (2026 Easter spending: $24.9 billion expected, $195.59 per person)
Dates and figures in this article were checked on November 7, 2026. The White House Easter Egg Roll date and 2027 retailer hours had not been announced at that time; confirm closer to March 2027.