Christmas is long gone and chocolate eggs and hot cross buns are starting to take over supermarket shelves as Easter isn't too far away now.
It's a good chance to get some time away from work and if you plan your days off work carefully around bank holidays then you could benefit from How you can double your holidays in 2019 .
But when is it this year? And why do the dates change each year? Here's all you need to know for Easter 2019.
The next bank holiday is Easter where we have a four-day weekend thanks to Good Friday and Easter Monday.
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So the Easter weekend is as follows...
Good Friday, April 19
Saturday, April 20
Easter Sunday, April 21
Easter Monday, April 22
Why does Easter change every year and who decides the date?
While many festivals are on fixed days, Easter is a movable feast and is usually celebrated on the first Sunday after the full moon on or after March 21 because it is based on the lunar calendar.
The First Council of Nicaea was a council of Christian bishops convened in Nicaea in Bithynia by the Roman Emperor Constantine I in AD 325.
They made decisions in an effort to attain a consensus on several Christian topics.
Based on the paschal full moon, it was decided by the bishops that Easter Day would fall on the next full moon after the spring equinox.
This is when Universal Credit, tax credits and child benefit will be paid over Easter
This was because Easter must fall on a Sunday as it was the day of Christ’s Resurrection.
The paschal full moon was chosen because the date of Passover in the Jewish calendar, and the Last Supper (Holy Thursday) occurred on the Passover. Therefore, Easter is the Sunday after Passover.
But since the paschal full moon can be on different days in different time zones, it was decided that the full moon is always determined to be the 14th day of the lunar month.
Even though the spring equinox can occur on March 20 the Church also fixes the spring equinox as March 21.
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