When is Ascension Day 2026?

Ascension Day commemorates the Christian belief that Jesus Christ ascended bodily into heaven forty days after his resurrection on Easter Sunday. Because Easter is a moveable feast, Ascension Day always falls on a Thursday between 30 April and 3 June. It has been observed since the 4th century and is mentioned in the writings of Eusebius of Caesarea.

The holiday is rooted in the Acts of the Apostles, which describes Jesus leading his disciples to a hill near Bethany, blessing them, and then rising into heaven. Ascension Thursday marks the end of the Easter season in the Catholic and many Protestant traditions.

Ascension Day is a public holiday in a number of predominantly Christian countries, particularly in continental Europe — including Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland, and the Nordic countries. In Germany it is also informally observed as Father's Day (Vatertag), a tradition that predates the modern secular Father's Day.