Easter Calculator

Easter is a movable feast, meaning it does not fall on a fixed date in the Gregorian calendar. Instead, Western Christianity defines Easter as the first Sunday following the ecclesiastical full moon that occurs on or after the vernal equinox (fixed at March 21). Mathematically, computers and calendars determine this using Meeus/Jones/Butcher algorithm variants. The process calculates the golden number of the year in the 19-year Metonic cycle, determines the century, adjusts for leap years, and tracks the epact—the age of the moon on January 1. Once the Paschal full moon is isolated, the formula finds the following Sunday, resulting in a date that always falls between March 22 and April 25.

Let us walk through finding the date of Easter for the year 2024. First, input the year 2024 into the calculator. The algorithm computes the epact and the golden number, determining that the ecclesiastical full moon for 2024 occurs on Monday, March 25. Moving forward to the very next Sunday, we land on March 31. Therefore, Easter Sunday in 2024 falls on March 31. The tool also references adjacent years, calculating 2023 Easter as April 9 and 2025 Easter as April 20, providing a complete chronological perspective.

When planning multi-year events or academic calendars, remember that Easter shifts significantly from year to year—sometimes by over three weeks. Keep in mind that Eastern Orthodox Christianity uses the Julian calendar for its calculation rules, which typically places Orthodox Easter one to five weeks later than Western Easter. Always verify whether your specific event planning requires the Western or Eastern observance date.