Easter 2025: Know the date, history and significance of Easter Sunday; how it is celebrated to when does Lent end

Easter 2025: After Christians observe Good Friday, the Easter celebrations occur. It is the most important festival in the Christian calendar, as it celebrates Jesus's rising from the dead, three days after he was executed. The week leading up to Easter is called Holy Week. The date of Easter Sunday varies from year to year. Find out when it will be celebrated, what its history and significance are, and more.

Also Read | Good Friday 2025: All you need to know about day’s meaning, why Christians observe Good Friday before Easter and more

Easter 2025: Easter Sunday date

This year, Easter falls on Sunday, April 20. Unlike Christmas, there is no fixed date for the festival of Easter. Every year, the festival is celebrated on the first Sunday after the Paschal Full Moon, according to the Ecclesiastical tradition. It follows the spring equinox, which causes the date to shift yearly as per lunar cycles.

Easter 2025: History and significance

For Christians, Easter is believed to be the dawn of a new beginning, a time of resurrection and a celebration of life that reminds us that hope must never be lost, for as dark as the road may seem, there always lies light at the end of it. On this day, the community celebrates with feasts, attends prayer services, decorates and distributes Easter eggs, and plays traditional Easter games.

The New Testament narrates how Jesus was arrested and then sentenced to death by crucifixion by Pontius Pilate because he claimed to be the Son of God. His resurrection three days later marks the occasion of Easter. This day is also closely associated with the Jewish festival of Passover.

According to the New Testament, Easter is believed to have occurred on the third day (after his burial) following his crucifixion by the Romans at Calvary. It is the culmination of the religious season of Lent, a 40-day period of fasting, prayer, and penance - marking the completion of the Passion of Christ, beginning from Lent and ending with Holy Week, which includes Holy Thursday (also Maundy Thursday which celebrates Jesus’ Last Supper with his 12 Apostles), Good Friday (when Jesus’ crucifixion is observed) and finally ending with Easter Sunday.

Easter marks the return of Jesus Christ, who sacrificed himself for the sins of humanity. The resurrection proves him as the true son of God who defeated evil and death before ascending to heaven.

Easter 2025: How to celebrate Easter?

Christians celebrate Easter with friends and family. They paint chocolate-filled eggs with bright colours and exchange them with loved ones. The Easter Bunny delivers chocolate eggs to kids, there are Easter egg hunts and plenty more fun activities on Easter. Eggs represent birth and fertility, and it is believed they are used during Easter festivities to symbolise Jesus’ rebirth.

The Easter vigil is also marked on this day, which is how many churches begin the day. It is also a day of feasting and playing traditional Easter games such as egg rolling, egg tapping and egg decorating.