All the Easter’s of spring: who celebrates, when and how
19 March 2024 16:31
Along with spring comes the season of important religious holidays in Ukraine. Although there are no official days off or public holidays during martial law, employers can set days off for their employees at their discretion. In any case, believers will find a way to celebrate their holidays. Therefore, Komersant ukrainskyi 
has made a short selection of religious holidays (in chronological order) that are coming up in the near future.
Easter of the Lord – 20 March
It is one of the four biggest pagan or native belief holidays, which falls on the vernal equinox, when the length of daylight after winter is equal to the length of night. This year, this day falls on 20 March. On this day, the pagans celebrate the rebirth of the Sun-Dazhbog, which will warm all living things until the autumn equinox.
Easter (Catholic and Protestant) – 31 March
As usual, Catholics and Protestants celebrate Easter earlier than Orthodox Christians due to the peculiarities of church calendars. This year, Christians of the Western rite will break eggs on the last day of March.
Ramadan – 9-10 April
Muslims are currently observing the holy month of Ramadan, which will end with the second most important Muslim holiday, Ramadan Bayram, or the Feast of Fasting. Prior to that, Muslims observed a strict fast during the holy month of Ramadan, which helped them to “burn away” all their sins.
Passover – 22-30 April
The Jews of Ukraine will remember the exodus of the Jewish people from Egypt (the event that Passover is dedicated to) during the last week of April. Jews are only allowed to work on the first and last days of this week. Jews rejoice and have fun during this week.
Easter (Orthodox and Greek Catholic) – 5 May
Although the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, and the Greek Catholics with it, have switched to celebrating Christmas on 25 December, it is not so simple with the moving holidays, which include Easter or Passover. The lunar calendars between the denominations are still not fully unified, so Ukrainian Orthodox Christians and Greek Catholics will bake Easter cakes in early May.
Vesak – 23 May
This is the greatest Buddhist holiday, which for believers of the Theravada tradition symbolises the birth, enlightenment and death of the Buddha, while for followers of Mahayana it is only his birth. On this day, Buddhists around the world try to make every effort to bring happiness to the unfortunate.
