Easter Tuesday in 2024

About Easter Tuesday

Easter Tuesday in the Western Christian liturgical calendar is the third day of Eastertide.

Until the 19th century, the whole week after Easter Sunday was a holiday. Generally, only Monday remains. Easter Tuesday is a holiday in Tasmania, Australia and in Southland, New Zealand they have been observing their Anniversary Day on Easter Tuesday since 2011.

There are no particular traditions associated with Easter Tuesday and where it is observed as a public holiday, it is only to extend the Easter break.

Easter Traditions

Date of Easter

Did you know that the calendar in use today in most parts of the world was brought about by Easter courtesy of Pope Gregory XII?

Pope Gregory introduced the Gregorian calendar after scholars realized that Easter was falling further away from the spring equinox since the Roman Julian calendar was out of sync with the solar year.

As to why Easter is celebrated on the first Sunday is due to a meeting convened by Emperor Constantine which resolved that Easter should be fixed on a Sunday.

Easter Eggs

The first eggs given at Easter were birds eggs. These eggs were painted in bright colours to give them further meaning as a gift. As chocolate became more widespread in the 20th Century, a chocolate version of the traditional painted egg was developed. The size of the chocolate egg has grown over the years and is now more likely to be the size of an ostrich egg rather than a small birds egg.

Another foodstuff eaten at Easter is the Simnel cake.

It is a rich fruitcake covered with a thick layer of almond paste (marzipan). A layer of marzipan is also traditionally baked into the middle of the cake. Eleven balls of marzipan are placed around the top to represent the 11 true disciples (excluding Judas who betrayed Jesus).

Originally, though, the Simnel cake was a gift to mothers on Mothering Sunday in mid-Lent.