Easter Friday
Easter Friday (Bright Friday)
Easter Friday, also called Bright Friday, is the sixth day of the Easter season. It should not be confused with Good Friday, which happens a week earlier.
Dates vary each year because the date of Easter changes. Western and Eastern Christian churches calculate Easter differently, so Easter Friday can fall on different days in the two traditions. In Western Christianity, Easter Friday is the sixth day of the Octave of Easter. In the Roman Catholic Church, Lutheran Churches, and some Anglican Churches, it is also within the Octave of Easter.
Easter Sunday can fall anywhere from March 22 to April 25, so Easter Friday generally falls from March 27 to April 30. March dates are rare; the last March 28 was in 2008, and the next one is March 30, 2035.
In the Eastern Orthodox and Eastern Catholic churches (Byzantine Rite), this day is called Bright Friday. All Paschal services are repeated during Bright Week, except for certain hymns. On Bright Friday, the Resurrection hymns from Tone Six are sung, along with hymns honoring the Virgin Mary as the "Life-giving Spring," and there is usually a Lesser Blessing of Waters. Because Easter date changes each year, Bright Friday changes as well.
Recent examples: 2019 fell on May 3; 2020 on April 24; 2021 on May 7.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 13:28 (CET).