Easter Monday

Easter Monday is a public bank holiday in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, occurring on the day directly following Easter Sunday. Marking the end of the four-day Easter weekend, it provides an additional day off for relaxation, family gatherings, and spring outings.

In Christian liturgical tradition, Easter Monday forms part of Bright Week and the Octave of Easter, reflecting the ongoing celebration of the resurrection. In medieval Britain, the week following Easter Sunday was treated as a secular holiday period filled with folk pageants, feasts, and games, giving agricultural workers respite after the strict observances of Lent.

Easter Monday was formally codified as a statutory bank holiday in England, Wales, and Ireland under the Bank Holidays Act 1871, championed by the banker and politician Sir John Lubbock. Unlike Good Friday, which was designated a bank holiday across the entire United Kingdom, Scotland was excluded from the statutory Easter Monday provision, maintaining its own distinct holiday calendar.

Across England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, Easter Monday is widely spent enjoying outdoor activities, short breaks, and visits to countryside estates, parks, or historic sites. Distinct regional customs persist, such as traditional egg-rolling competitions where hard-boiled, decorated eggs are raced down grassy slopes—most famously at Avenham Park in Preston. In northern England, community groups occasionally perform centuries-old Pace Egging folk plays, while the Leicestershire village of Hallaton hosts its historic Easter Monday 'bottle-kicking' contest against neighbouring Medbourne, fighting for possession of small beer barrels.