When is Easter this year, and why is it so early?
Easter Sunday falls on March 27 this year. "Easter's early this year, isn't it?" If no one has said that to you this year, then we can only assume you've been walking around with your fingers in your ears.
Because everyone here on Weekend Island has said it at least once (though none of us are complaining about the early influx of chocolate),
And that got us thinking. Why is it so early? What exactly dictates the festival date? We asked everyone sitting in a 100 egg radius of us whether they definitively knew why Easter runs on a different date each year, but no one did for sure.
So we thought we'd tackle it here on our back page. One things for sure, Easter is early this year - the days aren't just going faster. Phew.
Easter usually runs on the first Sunday after the first full moon after March 21. The reason? Well, it's a long and complex story. The rule is based on a mix of Egyptian, Hebrew and Roman culture and calendars.
In Judaism and Islam, the calendar is based on the phases of the moon. But the Egyptians based their calendar on the movement of the sun, and so did the Romans and then Christian culture. So Easter's date changes to try and balance both calendars - the lunar and solar. You have to try and keep everyone happy, you know?
Sounds simple, but then who decides what that balance is? Well, no one does, there's more than a dozen different formulas and no single fixed way.
In 1928, an Easter Act was passed to fix the date as the first Sunday after the second Saturday in April. Back in the 20s, they didn't really like messing about.
But, that law didn't catch on, was never enforced by the Government, and very few people adopted it.
Therefore, we reach our conclusion: We don't really know why Easter is so early this year, but we're just going to eat a Creme Egg and enjoy the long weekend.
Happy Easter! For more Easter fun, see your Weekend Express & Star on Saturday.
