ITS NOT AN APRIL FOOL, I AM THE MAN WHO CELEBRATED EASTER ON MARCH 22nd 2026 and today is Bad Friday!

GREECE IS THE LAND OF THE EXTREME EASTER DATES and is a real country that celebrated Easter on its earliest possible date in the 21st Century!

We have now raced past 120 signatures (achieved on March 31st, which I was hoping for by April 12th) and are storming ahead with over 125 signatures (reached April 1st), which means that this really has become a viral campaign and one that needs to be debated in the House of Commons!

Although an Orthodox Christian born in 1979 would narrowly miss out on seeing both their earliest and latest dates by their 30th birthday – they would still have seen their third-earliest, fourth-earliest, fourth-latest and latest Easter dates by the time they were just 29 years old in 2008 and would still see both extremes by the time they were just 32 years old (younger than me).

In the 29-year period from 1979 to 2008, Orthodox Easter fell on:

• Third-earliest: 1980
• Latest: 1983
• Fourth-earliest: 1991
• Fourth-latest: 2002

In the 32-year period from 1979 to 2008, Orthodox Easter fell on:

• Third-earliest: 1980
• Latest: 1983
• Fourth-earliest: 1991
• Fourth-latest: 2002
• Earliest: 2010

This is the reason why I created this campaign, as its not fair that a Western Christian born in 1979 would have to live over 300 years just to see both extremes, while an Orthodox Christian could do it by their early 30s (and also could see their second-earliest, second-latest, middle and third-latest dates by their 75th birthday in 2054).

I am campaigning to urge policymakers, the prime minister, religious leaders and authorities to fix Easter to Sunday 22nd March in 2043 or 2054 as the Gregorian system isn’t fair and denies multiple generations from experiencing both their absolute earliest AND latest dates, as the next occurrence of April 25th after 2038 isn’t until 2190, meaning that someone born in 2039 or later will never see both their earliest or latest dates unless without petitions and campaigns!  

Although 2037 is the next available year with March 22nd as a Sunday, I am no longer targeting that year or 2048 because the original April 5th Easter dates align with Orthodox Easter celebrations (even though it is not our second-earliest date). I am NOT targeting those years for the proposed date shift any more – my focus is now specifically for 2043 or 2054 instead!

Although I envy Orthodox Christians for their calendar and chance to see “extreme” Easter dates we cannot equally experience, they are unfairly disadvantaged in English speaking countries like the UK, the Republic of Ireland, the USA, Canada, South Africa, New Zealand and Australia as their holidays slip by and often go unnoticed – which is the secondary objective of this petition although as Orthodox Easter frequently falls on “late dates” like April 24th or 25th, Orthodox Christians in Australia may benefit from the national holiday of ANZAC day and having time off in years when the Easters don’t coincide. 

2026 is already difficult as there is no UK bank holiday for Orthodox Easter on Monday 13th April and next year is the troublesome 2027 - if these issues aren’t raised sooner, THERE ARE GOING TO BE ABSOLUTELY NO EASTER EGGS OR HOT CROSS BUNS IN UK SHOPS FOR ORTHODOX EASTER!

In countries like the UK, streets are littered with dead Christmas trees and Christmas trees in bins by Orthodox Christmas on January 7th so this country really isn’t built or designed for minority groups like Orthodox Christians, Muslims, Buddhists or other faiths – much like most aircraft are not generally designed for people over six feet tall! 

Many petitions concerning Orthodox Easter from US residents went viral on this website back in 2024 (the last occurrence of the five-week gap), and there is this current 2026 campaign concerning school on Orthodox Christmas in NYC. 

https://www.change.org/p/make-january-7-a-holiday-in-nyc-for-orthodox-christmas

As a resident in England, as from my previous updates, I personally believe the Early May Bank Holiday should always land on Orthodox Easter Monday, and be scrapped altogether in years where both the Easter dates coincide (such as 2028) as there is already the Late May Bank Holiday – even regular Easter Monday is not a bank holiday in Scotland. 

I also believe that extending the Christmas break by a week to include Orthodox Christmas (and reducing the six week summer holiday to five weeks) would not only benefit a growing number of Orthodox Christian pupils in the UK, but will also make school holiday lengths more evenly distributed throughout the year as many students IQ levels can drop over the UK’s six week summer holiday. 

Although many Orthodox Christians saw their earliest date just 16 years ago and will see their second-earliest date 11 years from now, this year’s Orthodox Easter date is not particularly exciting either, falling just over a week past it’s earliest possible date of March 30th O.S/April 12th N.S.

These are the Julian Old Style Orthodox Easter dates 1979 to 2011, proving what an Orthodox Christian will see by the age of just 32!:

• 1979 – April 9th
• 1980 – March 24th (third-earliest)
• 1981 – April 13th
• 1982 – April 5th
• 1983 – *April 25th (ultimate latest)*
• 1984 – April 9th
• 1985 – April 1st
• 1986 – April 21st (fifth-latest)
• 1987 – April 6th
• 1988 – March 28th (latest-earliest)
• 1989 – April 17th
• 1990 – April 2nd
• 1991 – March 25th (fourth-earliest)
• 1992 – April 13th
• 1993 – April 5th
• 1994 – April 18th
• 1995 – April 10th
• 1996 – April 1st
• 1997 – April 14th
• 1998 – April 6th
• 1999 – March 29th
• 2000 – April 17th
• 2001 – April 2nd
• 2002 – April 22nd (fourth-latest)
• 2003 – April 14th
• 2004 – March 29th
• 2005 – April 18th
• 2006 – April 10th
• 2007 – March 26th (fifth-earliest)
• 2008 – April 14th
• 2009 – April 6th
• 2010 – *March 22nd (ultimate earliest)*
• 2011 – April 11th

Here is the list of Julian Old Style dates from 2037 to 2052 - proving the second-earliest date twice, exact middle date three times, second-latest and third-latest dates!

• 2037 – March 23rd (second-earliest)
• 2038 – April 12th
• 2039 – April 4th
• 2040 – April 23rd (third-latest)
• 2041 – April 8th (exact middle date)
• 2042 – March 31st
• 2043 – April 20th (sixth-latest)
• 2044 – April 11th
• 2045 – March 27th (sixth-earliest)
• 2046 – April 16th
• 2047 – April 8th (exact middle date)
• 2048 – March 23rd (second-earliest)
• 2049 – April 12th
• 2050 – April 4th
• 2051 – April 24th (second-latest)
• 2052 – April 8th (exact middle date)

I am a regular Moonpig user and bought my mother (who doesn’t yet know about this petition) a customisable Mother’s Day card before Valentines Day this year to avoid seeing “Mother’s Day – Sunday 15th March”. Ironically, another film Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief, a comedy film based on Greek mythology, was also released around Orthodox Easter in 2010, just as those in Greece celebrated their ultimate Easter!

Although I have never been there myself, I have seen Tripadvisor reports about Orthodox Easter in Greece and have watched YouTube videos of Orthodox Easter firework ceremonies in Greece. 

If any of you have the chance, I would suggest booking a holiday to Greece (the Land of the Extreme Easter Dates) for Orthodox Easter on its second-earliest date in the year 2037!

On Easter Sunday most years, I don’t go to church but watch Jesus related movies like King of Kings  (1961) with family and have Sunday dinner - out of protest and refusing to accept/acknowledge the official date which for me is “wrong” because I have been in denial, I have decided to watch Johnny Depp’s adaptation of Alice in Wonderland this coming Sunday which, ironically, came out around Easter in 2010 – and you all know what all of our Orthodox Christians in Athens and Crete and globally happened to see then!

I launched this campaign because it really isn’t fair that MILLIONS of Orthodox Christians under the age of 18 worldwide have already seen the earliest possible date, and MANY MORE under 50 have seen both extremes so this is why this petition exists. I am avoiding shops and National Trust properties (like Morden Hall Park, where I enjoy gardening) at the moment because they advertise Easter as 5th April, not “my” 22nd March which is what I want to see!

I hope to hit 200 signatures by April 25th (Western Easter’s latest date) and I can’t wait for May because I will no longer see April 2026 calendars!

Examples of 10 dead celebrities who never saw a “latest” Easter (assuming they were Western Christians):

• ·       Alan Rickman (1946-2016) actor
• ·       Robbie Coltrane (1950-2022) actor
• ·       Chris Rea (1951-2025) singer
• ·       David Bowie (1947-2016) singer
• ·       Davy Jones (1945-2012) lead singer of the Monkees
• ·       Rick Parfitt (1948-2016) lead singer of Status Quo
• ·       Mary Wilson (1944-2021) lead singer of The Supremes
• ·       Barry John (1945-2024) Welsh rugby player
• ·       Jerry Springer (1944-2023) broadcaster
• ·       Gwyneth Powell (1946-2022) British actress

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MZiY99SrqLw – a video of Orthodox Easter fireworks in Greece

https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/ShowTopic-g189413-i424-k14720893-Crete_11_nights_during_Orthodox_Easter-Crete.html - a Tripadvisor report of Orthodox Easter in Crete 

https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/ShowTopic-g189398-i192-k14640453-Greek_Orthodox_Easter-Greece.html

Orthodox Christians born on April 5th 1980 get the Ultimate Prize!:

An Orthodox Christian lucky enough to have been born on April 5th 1980 gets the ultimate prize – they get to see their third-earliest date at just one day old, their latest date aged 3 and their absolute earliest date on their last day of being 29 years old – this means they can turn 30 having ALREADY seen their earliest (2010), third-earliest (1980), fourth-earliest (1991), fourth-latest (2002) and latest (1983) Easter dates; with their second-earliest date falling on their 57th (2037) and 68th (2048) birthdays as well as seeing their second-latest (2051) and third-latest (2040) dates all before turning 75 in 2055 and in addition to this, Orthodox Christians born in 2008 or 2009 get to see both their earliest and second-earliest dates before turning 30!

Many Orthodox Christians created petitions on this website in 2024, the last time that five-week gap occurred, such as these ones:

https://www.change.org/p/grant-students-off-from-school-for-christian-orthodox-holidays

https://www.change.org/p/orthodox-easter-observance

Although the two Easter dates land on the same physical day every so many years, they are actually two different dates on two different calendars (Gregorian and Julian), much like how the notes “E-sharp” and “F” are played using the same physical key on a piano keyboard having the same pitch but are written differently.

While the rest of the UK (and the world) celebrate Easter this weekend and are two weeks behind me (and Orthodox Christians do next weekend), my personal observance of Easter already came and went a fortnight ago and as a neurodivergent individual, there is the Equality Act which, guess what, came out in that all-important year - 2010!

March 22nd 2026 – this year’s unauthorised third Easter date!

2026 has THREE Easter dates!

The Easter dates for this decade are:

• 2020 – April 12th
• 2021 – April 4th
• 2022 – April 17th
• 2023 – April 9th
• 2024 – March 31st
• 2025 – April 20th
• 2026 – March 22nd
• 2027 – March 28th
• 2028 – April 16th
• 2029 – April 1st
• 2030 – April 21st