The first full moon of spring 2026 is on its way, and with it, an early Easter. April’s Pink Moon is scheduled for the first day of April, and while it’s not a lunar eclipse like the full moon in March, it should still light up the sky.
The best time to view the full moon is the evening of April 1. Per The Old Farmer’s Almanac, peak illumination occurs at 10:12 p.m. ET. That’s well after dark for much of the US, and since the moon is set to rise at around 8 p.m. local time in all time zones, most of the US should get a chance to see it at peak illumination.
The only ones left out are those on the West Coast, where the moon won’t rise until around an hour after peak illumination. It doesn’t matter much in the grand scheme since the moon will still be completely full. If you miss the full moon due to inclement weather, the moon will still be mostly full in the two days leading up to and after April 1, so you’ll have plenty of chances to see at least a mostly full moon.
Happy Easter!
The Pink Moon doesn’t have any special characteristics like January’s supermoon or last June’s micromoon. (More of those will come later in 2026.) There is still some cultural significance for this year’s Pink Moon. In Christianity, the first full moon that takes place after the spring equinox determines the calendar dates for Easter. That particular full moon is known as the Paschal Moon.
Easter is always observed on the first Sunday after the first full moon of spring. That means the date for Easter this year is April 5.
Since the holiday doesn’t have a fixed date like Christmas, it’s commonly referred to as the “movable feast” and can take place anywhere between March 22 and April 25. The dates are based on the fact that Christianity recognizes the spring equinox as March 21 every year, even though the astronomical date varies slightly, making March 22 the earliest day Easter can occur. The moon cycle is 29.5 days, and when you do the math, the latest you can go is April 25. The next time Earth is scheduled to have an Easter on April 25 is 2038.
