When is Shrovetide in 2027? Date, history and customs

Shrovetide is one of those festive days you can never quite remember the date of from year to year, unlike Christmas and Advent, which have a fixed place in the calendar. That's because Shrovetide is tied to Easter, which itself moves according to the position of the moon and sun. In this article, you'll find the date for 2027 and the following years, an explanation of why the date wanders, and an overview of Shrovetide's history and customs, from farmers on horseback to today's barrel-smashing.

When is Shrovetide in 2027?

In 2027, Shrove Sunday falls on Sunday 7 February. Shrove Monday is Monday 8 February, Shrove Tuesday is Tuesday 9 February, and Ash Wednesday, which marks the start of Lent, is Wednesday 10 February 2027. Shrovetide always falls 7 weeks before Easter Sunday, or more precisely 49 days before, which is why the date is never the same two years running.

Shrovetide in the coming years

Because Shrovetide follows Easter, Shrove Sunday always falls on a Sunday between 1 February and 7 March. Here are the dates for the coming years, so you can look up the date whatever year you're reading this in.

Why does the date shift every year?

Shrove Tuesday's movable date is inextricably linked to Easter. Easter Sunday is set as the first Sunday after the first full moon following the spring equinox, which means Easter Sunday can fall as early as 22 March and as late as 25 April. Shrove Sunday falls 49 days before Easter Sunday, so when Easter moves, Shrovetide moves with it.

Ash Wednesday, the day after Shrove Tuesday, marks the start of Catholic Lent, which lasts 40 days leading up to Easter. In that count, Sundays don't count, because in Christian tradition Sunday is always regarded as a little Easter and therefore not a fasting day.

What does the word "fastelavn" mean?

The word "fastelavn" comes from the Middle Low German "vastelavent", meaning the eve of the fast, that is, the evening before the fast begins. Fastelavn was originally the name for the three days right before the long fast: Pork Sunday and Pork Monday, when people ate pork and other meat dishes before the meat had to be put away, and Shrove Tuesday, when many places ate egg soup or milk pudding with wheat buns.

In church, Shrove Sunday is called quinquagesima, the Latin word for fifty, because the day falls fifty days before Easter Sunday, counting both Shrove Sunday and Easter Sunday itself.

The related word "carnival" comes from the Latin "carne vale", meaning farewell to meat, and points to the same idea: one last celebration before the meat is put away. In large parts of Catholic Europe, similar festivities are found under names such as Fastnacht, Fasching and carnival, and in the American South, the celebration is called Mardi Gras, Fat Tuesday. In Sweden, the days are instead marked with semla or fastlagsbulle.

The history of Shrovetide: from adults' feast to children's festival

Fastelavn stems from the Catholic Church's celebration leading up to Lent, but the festival has changed a great deal along the way. With the Reformation in Denmark in 1536, the formal duty to fast ceased, but the festivities surrounding fastelavn lived on, and for many years fastelavn was primarily a celebration for adults.

In farming communities, young men would "ride fastelavn": they rode around to the parish farms, were treated to food and drink, and collected money for the fastelavn feast, to which the whole parish was invited. There were competitions such as knocking the cat out of the barrel, ring riding and poking at the strawman, a stuffed straw figure. In the market towns, people instead "ran fastelavn", where disguised participants went from house to house while the residents tried to guess who was hiding behind the mask. That custom is likely the origin of today's fancy dress.

The authorities banned the dressing-up games in 1683, but they remained popular and carried on in full swing. The barrel-knocking itself possibly came to Denmark with Dutch immigrants in the early 1500s, and the cat in the barrel was, until the mid-1800s, often a live cat. Today the barrel is filled with sweets and fruit and decorated with a picture of a cat on the outside.

Shrove Monday used to be a day off school, but that day off disappeared when Saturday lessons were abolished in 1970. Today, fastelavn is primarily a celebration for children, and it's largely schools and nurseries that keep the tradition of barrel-knocking and fancy dress alive.

How Shrovetide is celebrated today

• Fancy dress: children and sometimes adults dress up, a tradition that stems from "running fastelavn" in the old days.
• Knock the cat out of the barrel: whoever knocks the bottom out of the barrel so the sweets fall out becomes the cat queen, while whoever knocks down the last piece of the barrel becomes the cat king. The rules vary from place to place, though.
• Rattling: children go singing from door to door in the neighbourhood, among other things with the song "Fastelavn er mit navn", and receive money or sweets as a reward. This usually happens on Shrove Sunday or Shrove Monday, but the date can vary, as nurseries and schools set their own time for marking fastelavn.
• Bite the bun: a little game where, without using your hands, you have to bite a bun hanging from a string.
• Shrovetide buns: in older Danish tradition, they were made of fine yeast dough with raisins and candied peel, while today they're found as yeast buns, choux pastries or Danish pastries filled with, for example, pastry cream, remonce or whipped cream and decorated with icing sugar or icing.
• Family church service: many churches hold a service on Shrove Sunday, where children are welcome to come in fancy dress, and afterwards everyone knocks the cat out of the barrel and eats shrovetide buns.

Fastelavn switches, the sweet-decorated birch twigs given as a morning gift, are also part of the tradition, but deserve their own story another day.

Shrovetide around the country

In some parts of Denmark, Shrovetide has its own distinctive character. On Amager, people still ride for Shrovetide on horseback: in Sundby on the Saturday, in Dragør on the Sunday, in St. Magleby on the Monday and in Ullerup on the Wednesday of Shrovetide week. On Bornholm, Shrovetide riding with barrel-smashing and ring-riding is also widespread, and the local riding clubs, several of them founded in the 1930s, organise the festivities for all ages.

On Ærø, a group of children wakes the town with singing from as early as five in the morning, and in the evening the adults go round masked until the unmasking at midnight.

If you want to celebrate Shrovetide for the family at home, it's a good idea to set out the Shrovetide buns on a cake plate so they look inviting when the guests arrive.

Frequently asked questions

When is Shrovetide in 2027?

Shrove Sunday is Sunday 7 February 2027, Shrove Monday is 8 February, Shrove Tuesday is 9 February, and Ash Wednesday is 10 February 2027.

Why doesn't Shrovetide fall on the same date every year?

Shrovetide falls 49 days before Easter Sunday, and because Easter Sunday follows the first full moon after the spring equinox, both Easter and Shrovetide shift from year to year.

What does Shrovetide mean?

The word comes from the Middle Low German vastelavent, which means the eve of the fast, that is, the evening before the long Catholic fast begins.

Where does Shrovetide come from?

Shrovetide comes from the Catholic Church's celebration before Lent, and in Denmark it developed through customs such as riding for Shrovetide in farming communities and running for Shrovetide in the market towns.

When do you rattle for Shrovetide?

People typically rattle on Shrove Sunday or Shrove Monday, but the date can vary locally, as schools and nurseries set their own time to mark Shrovetide.

Who becomes the cat king and cat queen?

Often, whoever knocks the bottom out of the barrel so the sweets fall out becomes the cat queen, while whoever knocks down the last piece of the barrel becomes the cat king, but the rules vary from place to place.

Summary

Shrovetide in 2027 falls on Sunday 7 February, with Shrove Monday, Shrove Tuesday and Ash Wednesday on the following days. The date shifts every year because Shrovetide falls 49 days before Easter, which itself follows the moon and the spring equinox. From an old celebration for adults with riding and dressing-up games, Shrovetide today is first and foremost the children's celebration with barrel-smashing, rattling and Shrovetide buns.

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