Good Friday
26 March 2027
Good Friday is the Friday before Easter Sunday, when Christians mark the crucifixion of Jesus. In 2027 it falls on 26 March, with Holy Thursday the day before and Easter on 28 March. Orthodox churches keep Good Friday on 30 April that year. It is not a federal holiday in the United States, and federal offices stay open.
The date moves because Easter moves. The rule, set at the Council of Nicaea in 325, keeps Easter on a Sunday: it is the first Sunday after the first full moon on or after the spring equinox, and the church’s tables use 21 March as the fixed equinox. Good Friday is always two days before it.
That gives a wide range. The earliest Easter can fall is 22 March and the latest is 25 April, so Good Friday falls between 20 March and 23 April. Easter falls on 28 March only occasionally, and the previous time it did was 1937, according to the U.S. Naval Observatory’s tables. The range is wider than for any other holiday on the American calendar.
Where it is a holiday, it is a state one. In 2027, Good Friday is a state holiday in Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, North Carolina, North Dakota, New Jersey, Tennessee and Texas, according to timeanddate.com. The New York Stock Exchange is also closed on the day. It is the only stock market holiday of the year that is not also a federal holiday.
The day is kept with services rather than with shopping. Churches hold the Stations of the Cross and evening services, and in some denominations it is a day of fasting; the day opens the Easter Triduum, the three days that end with Easter Sunday. Most schools and offices open as usual, and mail is delivered, because the day has no federal standing.
Sources
- U.S. Naval Observatory, Astronomical Applications Department, “The Date of Easter”
- New York Stock Exchange, “Holidays & Trading Hours”
- U.S. Office of Personnel Management, “Federal Holidays”
- Timeanddate.com, “Holidays and Observances in the United States in 2027”
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