Why Is Easter So Early This Year?

Christmas is always on December 25. Valentine's Day is always on February 14. Independence Day is always on July 4. So, why does the date of Easter change every year? It's all about the moon.

Easter this year is Sunday, March 27, 2106.  Last year it was April 5, 2015. Easter is based on the lunar calendar, meaning it’s celebrated on the Sunday immediately after the first full moon that follows the vernal equinox. The vernal equinox – aka, Spring – occurred on March 20. The next full moon is scheduled for March 23, 2016. Easter therefore falls on Sunday, March 26.

The earliest Easter can be is March 22. However, it has not fallen on this date since 1818 and won’t fall here again until 2285.

The latest day Easter can fall is April 25. This last happened in 1943 and will next come round in 2038.

Here's a list of future Easter dates:

• April 16, 2017
• April 1, 2018
• April 21, 2019
• April 12, 2020
• April 4, 2021
• April 17, 2022
• April 9, 2023
• March 31, 2024
• April 20, 2025

According to the Farmer's Almanac, here's a brief history of Easter?

Easter Sunday is the most important celebration in the Christian calendar. This Christian holy day celebrates the resurrection of Christ after his Crucifixion and was probably the earliest of the church’s annual festivals. Folk customs attached to the festival date from pre-Christian times. Eggs, traditionally forbidden during Lent, symbolize new life. The Easter Bunny recalls the hare, the Egyptian symbol of fertility. Easter may have derived its name from the Saxon goddess Eostre, whose feast was celebrated each spring at about this time. Or, it may have derived from the word oster, meaning “rising.”

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