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Feast days calendar 2026-2027

Major Christian liturgical dates across traditions and pilgrimage destinations.

The Christian liturgical year is the natural framework for planning a pilgrimage. Visiting a holy site on its feast day — the Holy Sepulchre at Orthodox Pascha, the House of the Virgin Mary at the Assumption, Bari at the Translation Festival — transforms a cultural visit into a living liturgical event. This calendar covers the principal feasts for 2026 and early 2027, keyed to the pilgrimage sites in our network, with practical notes on what to expect at each major event.

Note that Eastern and Western Easter dates differ in 2026 (they coincided in 2025): Western Easter is 5 April, Orthodox Pascha is 12 April. Plan Holy Week travel with this in mind — accommodation in Jerusalem, Athens and other Orthodox centres for the second week of April 2026 will book out many months ahead.

Full Calendar 2026-2027

DateFeastPilgrimage site
6 January 2026Armenian and Coptic Christmas / TheophanyEtchmiadzin, Coptic Cairo
7 January 2026Orthodox Old Calendar ChristmasRussian, Serbian, Georgian and Old-Calendar Greek parishes
19 January 2026Coptic TheophanyCoptic Cairo
2 February 2026Presentation of the Lord (Candlemas)Universal
25 March 2026Annunciation of the LordNazareth, Ephesus, Marian shrines
5 April 2026Western Easter (Catholic and Protestant)Universal — Jerusalem, Rome, Assisi, all Catholic and Protestant churches
11 April 2026Holy Fire ceremony (Orthodox Holy Saturday)Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Jerusalem
12 April 2026Orthodox PaschaUniversal Eastern Orthodox — Jerusalem, Athens, Thessaloniki, Tbilisi, Bucharest
8 May 2026Saint John the Theologian (Commemoration)Patmos — the cave seals on this day by tradition
7-9 May 2026Translation of Saint Nicholas (Bari)Bari — the Translation Festival and manna extraction
22 May 2026Bari Translation (Old Calendar)Russian Orthodox parishes worldwide
24 May 2026Catholic PentecostUniversal Catholic
31 May 2026Orthodox PentecostUniversal Eastern Orthodox
1 June 2026Entry of the Holy Family into EgyptHanging Church Cairo, Al-Muharraq Monastery
29 June 2026Saints Peter and PaulRome (Saint Peter's Square), Antakya Saint Peter's Cave
11 August 2026Saint Clare of AssisiAssisi (Santa Chiara Basilica)
15 August 2026Dormition / Assumption of the TheotokosEphesus (House of the Virgin Mary), Patmos, Athens, Jerusalem, Mtskheta, Gelati
8 September 2026Nativity of the TheotokosGelati (Georgia), Eastern Orthodox parishes
14 September 2026Exaltation of the Holy CrossJerusalem (Holy Sepulchre), Mtskheta, Caucasus churches
26 September 2026Repose of Saint John the TheologianPatmos
3-4 October 2026Saint Francis (Transitus and Solemnity) — Year of Saint FrancisAssisi — major events marking 800th anniversary of his death
12 October 2026Blessed Carlo Acutis (beatified 2020, canonised 2025)Assisi
14 October 2026Mtskhetoba / SvetitskhovlobaMtskheta — Georgia's largest pilgrimage gathering
26 October 2026Saint Demetrios of ThessalonikiThessaloniki (Hagios Demetrios)
9 November 2026Dedication of the Lateran BasilicaRome (Saint John Lateran)
13 November 2026Saint John ChrysostomConstantinople / Istanbul (Ecumenical Patriarchate)
25 November 2026Saint Catherine of AlexandriaSinai (Saint Catherine's Monastery)
28 November 20261700th anniversary of First Council of Nicaea (continuing observances)Iznik / Nicaea, Istanbul — papal and patriarchal presence expected
30 November 2026Saint Andrew the First-Called (Patriarchal Throne Day)Ecumenical Patriarchate, Istanbul
6 December 2026Saint Nicholas of MyraDemre (Divine Liturgy at the church), Bari (solemn Mass and procession)
25 December 2026Western Christmas / Catholic Midnight Mass BethlehemUniversal Catholic and Protestant; Bethlehem (Manger Square, Basilica of the Nativity)
7 January 2027Greek Orthodox Christmas and Bethlehem ProcessionBethlehem — Greek Orthodox Patriarch leads procession
18 January 2027Armenian Apostolic Christmas (Theophany) and Bethlehem ProcessionBethlehem — Armenian Patriarch leads procession
19 January 2027Coptic TheophanyCoptic Cairo and Coptic churches worldwide

Source: published official liturgical calendars of the Roman Catholic Church, the Ecumenical Patriarchate, the Coptic Orthodox Patriarchate, the Armenian Apostolic Mother See and the Georgian Patriarchate. Verify with the local diocese or shrine for celebration times.

Five Featured Feasts — What to Expect on the Day

Not all feast days are equal in terms of pilgrim experience. These five offer the most immersive liturgical encounters in our network:

Holy Fire (11 April 2026)

Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Jerusalem

The Holy Fire ceremony occurs on Orthodox Holy Saturday (the Saturday before Orthodox Pascha). The Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem enters the Edicule (Tomb of Christ) alone and emerges with the Holy Fire — candlelight that is distributed throughout the church and then carried by air to Greece, Cyprus and other Orthodox countries. The ceremony is attended by tens of thousands inside and around the church, beginning before dawn and reaching its climax around midday. Tickets are not sold — attendance is a matter of arriving early and waiting. The atmosphere is extraordinary: darkness, then a wave of candlelight spreading through the crowd, with singing, ululation and joyful shouting. For Orthodox pilgrims, this is the supreme pilgrimage moment of the year.

Practical notes: Arrive at the church by 06:00 for a midday ceremony. The final entry is often restricted by 08:00-09:00. Orthodox pilgrims have traditional priority. Stand near the entrance to receive fire early. Guard your candle — wind from movement extinguishes it.

Assumption / Dormition at Ephesus (15 August 2026)

House of the Virgin Mary (Meryem Ana Evi), Ephesus

The feast of the Assumption (Catholic) / Dormition (Orthodox) on 15 August is the principal liturgical event at the House of the Virgin Mary at Ephesus. An outdoor Mass is celebrated on the terrace in front of the chapel, attended by thousands of pilgrims from Turkey, Greece, Italy and beyond. Catholics, Orthodox and — remarkably — many local Muslim Turks (who also venerate Meryem Ana) join the gathering. Pope Paul VI visited on 26 July 1967; Pope John Paul II celebrated Mass here on 30 November 1979 and again in 1993; Pope Benedict XVI on 29 November 2006. A papal Mass here has been discussed for 2026 given the Nicaea anniversary year.

Practical notes: Book your Ephesus visit well in advance of 15 August — accommodation in Selcuk and Kusadasi fills 2-3 months ahead. The Meryem Ana Evi is open year-round; the feast Mass begins at approximately 10:00 Turkish time. Bring water — the site is on a forested hillside with limited shade at the gathering area.

Translation of Saint Nicholas, Bari (7-9 May 2026)

Basilica di San Nicola, Bari

The Translation Festival commemorates the arrival of Saint Nicholas's relics in Bari on 9 May 1087. The festival runs over three days: May 7 sees a procession bearing the statue of the saint through the streets of Bari Vecchia; May 8 is the solemn pontifical Mass; May 9 is the anniversary, with a nautical procession carrying the saint's statue through Bari's harbour. The annual manna extraction — liquid exuded from the saint's relics in the crypt — is performed on 8 May with Orthodox and Catholic clergy present. Russian, Greek, Serbian and Bulgarian Orthodox pilgrims fill the city, making this one of the most ecumenical gatherings in Italy.

Practical notes: Hotels in Bari fill 3-4 months ahead for the Translation Festival. The Russian Orthodox chapel in the crypt (established 1966) is open daily. The manna extraction ceremony in the crypt is attended by invitation — contact the Basilica di San Nicola Pilgrim Office for current access arrangements.

Mtskhetoba (14 October 2026)

Mtskheta, Georgia

Mtskhetoba (also Svetitskhovloba — Feast of the Life-Giving Pillar) is Georgia's largest annual pilgrimage gathering, marking the feast of the Robe of Christ at Svetitskhoveli Cathedral in Mtskheta. Tens of thousands of Georgian pilgrims converge on the ancient capital — once the Catholicos-Patriarch himself leads the outdoor liturgy on the cathedral square. Georgian Orthodox Christianity is deeply embedded in national identity; this feast is simultaneously a religious and national occasion. The Robe of Christ (John 19:23-24, believed to have been brought to Mtskheta by the Jewish merchant Elios of Jerusalem) is entombed beneath the Life-Giving Pillar inside the cathedral.

Practical notes: Tbilisi-Mtskheta is 22 km (30 minutes by taxi or marshrutka). The town is completely packed on October 14 — book Tbilisi accommodation months ahead and plan an early departure. The outdoor liturgy typically begins around 10:00. Dress modestly: scarf for women, long trousers for all.

Planning Around Feast Days

Visiting a pilgrimage site on its principal feast day is one of the most meaningful decisions a pilgrim can make — but it requires planning. For the Holy Fire ceremony in Jerusalem (11 April 2026), Jerusalem's Old City hotels begin booking out six months in advance. For the Translation Festival in Bari (7-9 May 2026), southern Italian hotels fill 3-4 months ahead. For the Assumption at Ephesus (15 August 2026), Selcuk and Kusadasi book out in May-June. The earlier you confirm your feast-day pilgrimage dates, the better.

For those who cannot visit on the feast day itself, the week immediately before and after a major feast offers a secondary opportunity. Churches are decorated for the feast, the liturgical atmosphere remains heightened, and accommodation pressure is lower. Many pilgrim groups deliberately time arrival two days before the feast — enough time to explore the site before the crowds, attend the full feast-day liturgy, and depart before the post-feast exodus.

For multi-feast itineraries — combining, for example, Western Holy Week in Jerusalem (29 March - 5 April 2026) with the Bari Translation Festival (7-9 May 2026) — plan your routing carefully. Jerusalem → Rome → Bari over 5-6 weeks in spring 2026 is a coherent Pauline-Marian-Nicholas arc, with each feast naturally encountered.

Frequently Asked Questions

Western Easter (Catholic and Protestant) is Sunday 5 April 2026. Orthodox Pascha is Sunday 12 April 2026. The Holy Fire ceremony at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem falls on Orthodox Holy Saturday, 11 April 2026. The two dates diverged in 2026 — they coincided in 2025. In 2027, Western Easter is 28 March and Orthodox Pascha is 2 May.

6 December is the feast of Saint Nicholas on the Gregorian calendar, celebrated at his church in Demre / Myra (Turkey) with an Orthodox Divine Liturgy — the only day the church functions liturgically. In Bari (Italy), 6 December is also celebrated with a solemn Mass. The Translation Festival (commemorating the 1087 arrival of his relics) is 7-9 May in Bari. On the Old Calendar (Julian), the translation feast is 22 May.

The Holy Fire (Greek: Ἅγιον Φῶς, Holy Light) is a ceremony at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem that occurs every year on Orthodox Holy Saturday (the day before Orthodox Pascha). In 2026 it falls on Saturday 11 April. The Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem enters the Edicule (the Tomb of Christ) alone; candles inside are said to light spontaneously. He emerges with the Holy Fire, which is distributed through the church and carried by air to Orthodox countries worldwide. The ceremony is one of the oldest continuously practised Christian rituals.

There are three separate Christmas celebrations in Bethlehem: Catholic and Protestant Christmas on 24-25 December (Midnight Mass in Manger Square and the Basilica of the Nativity, led by the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem); Greek Orthodox Christmas on 6-7 January (Greek Orthodox Patriarch leads the procession from Jerusalem to Bethlehem); Armenian Apostolic Christmas and Theophany on 18-19 January (Armenian Patriarch of Jerusalem leads the procession). Accommodation in Bethlehem for all three periods books out many months in advance.

2026 is the Year of Saint Francis — the 800th anniversary of his death on 3 October 1226. Assisi will host major events, especially 3-4 October. It also continues the 1700th anniversary of the First Council of Nicaea (held in 325 AD, commemorated since November 2025), with events at Iznik and Istanbul. Carlo Acutis — the Italian teenager canonised in 2025, the first Millennial saint — draws young pilgrims to his tomb in Assisi.

The feast of the Dormition (Orthodox) / Assumption (Catholic) on 15 August is celebrated at the House of the Virgin Mary (Meryem Ana Evi) near Ephesus with an outdoor Mass on the terrace in front of the chapel, attended by thousands of pilgrims including Turkish Muslims who also venerate the site. The Mass begins approximately 10:00 Turkish time. The site and surrounding Selcuk/Kusadasi area fill with pilgrims and accommodation books out 2-3 months ahead.

Feast days offer an unparalleled atmosphere — living liturgy, crowds of local faithful, centuries-old traditions. But they also mean the largest crowds, higher accommodation prices, and sometimes restricted pilgrim access (the crypt at Bari during the manna extraction, the Edicule during Holy Fire). Many pilgrims prefer to visit major sites during the week before or after a feast: the decoration is up, the atmosphere is still heightened, but the logistics are easier. This depends on your priorities — if the liturgy itself is the goal, go on the feast day.
See also: Best time to travel by country and season  · Orthodox vs Catholic — denominations guide  · Full pilgrimage planning guide