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Holy Week
Good Friday
Also called: Viernes Santo, Vendredi Saint, Karfreitag, Great and Holy Friday (Orthodox), Crucifixion of Our Lord
3 April 2026
All Christians
Good Friday is the most solemn day in Christianity — the day Jesus was crucified and died on a cross outside Jerusalem. Churches hold stripped-back services with hymns like 'When I Survey the Wondrous Cross'; some communities walk the Stations of the Cross through city streets.
It is a public holiday in the UK, though shops and entertainment often stay open. If you want to stand at Calvary itself, Eden's partners run Good Friday pilgrimages to the Holy Land every spring.
At a glance
- Type
- fast day
- Date type
- Moveable (changes with Easter)
- Regions
- Global
- Themes
- Passion & Death, Holy Cross
- Liturgical colour
- Red (Catholic), Black (some traditions), no color (some Protestant)
- Public holiday
- Yes — in at least one country
Common questions
Good Friday is observed on 3 April 2026. Moveable feasts shift each year; fixed feasts stay on the same calendar date.
The most solemn day of the Christian year, commemorating the crucifixion and death of Jesus Christ at Calvary. In Catholic practice, there is no Mass on Good Friday — the service (the Liturgy of the Lord's Passion) consists of readings, the Veneration of the Cross, and Holy Communion from pre-consecrated hosts. Many Protestant traditions hold Tenebrae services (a service of darkening) or Stations
It is associated with All Christians. It falls in the Holy Week, Triduum season of the liturgical year.
Yes — Good Friday is a public holiday in at least one country (including GB). In the UK, check whether your nation marks it as a bank holiday.
