For the novel by Ernest Hemingway, see A Moveable Feast.

In Christianity, a moveable feast or movable feast is a holy day -- a feast or a fast -- whose date is not fixed to a particular day of the calendar year but moves in response to the date of Easter, which date varies according to a complex formula.

By extension, other religions' feasts are occasionally described by the same term. In addition many countries have secular holidays that are moveable, for instance to make holidays more consecutive; the term "moveable feast" is not used in this case however.

Further, by metaphoric extension but with the meaning of a party that was on the move, Ernest Hemingway used the term as the title for his memoirs, A Moveable Feast, of life in Paris in the 1920s. This usage has become a popular phrase in food contexts, with several catering companies adopting it as their name.

Moveable feasts in Christianity

• Triodion - 70 days before Easter (Eastern and Oriental Orthodox)
• Saturday of Souls - 57 days before Easter (Eastern and Oriental Orthodox)
• Mardi Gras/Shrove Tuesday - 47 days before Easter (Western Christianity only)
• Ash Wednesday - 46 days before Easter (Western Christianity only)
• Triumph of Orthodoxy - 42 days before Easter (Eastern and Oriental Orthodox)
• Saturday of Lazarus - 8 days before Easter (Eastern and Oriental Orthodox)
• Palm Sunday - 7 days before Easter
• Easter - the date around which the others are placed
• Ascension Day - 40 days after Easter
• Pentecost - 50 days after Easter
• All Saints - 57 days after Easter (Eastern and Oriental Orthodox)
• Corpus Christi - 60 days after Easter (Western Christianity only)
• feast days of some significant saints days, if a moveable feast falls too close to their usual date.

Some of the Fixed feasts in Christianity

• Christmas - December 25
• Transfiguration - August 6
• Dormition of the Theotokos/Assumption of Mary - August 15
• Presentation of Christ in the Temple - February 2
• Exaltation of the Cross - September 15
• feast days of most individual saints

Moveable holidays in Japanese calendar

• Coming-of-age Day (成人の日) - 2nd Monday of January
• Maritime Day (海の日) - 3rd Monday of July
• Respect-for-the-aged Day (敬老の日) - 3rd Monday of September
• Health-Sports Day (体育の日) - 2nd Monday of October

See also Japanese calendar.

Moveable US public holidays

• Martin Luther King Day - Third Monday of January
• Presidents' Day - Second Monday of February
• Memorial Day - Last Monday of May
• Labor Day - First Monday of September
• Columbus Day - Second Monday of October
• Thanksgiving Day - Fourth Thursday of November

Moveable Canadian public holidays

• Victoria Day - Monday on or immediately before May 24 (one week before Memorial Day in the USA)
• Labour Day - First Monday of September
• Thanksgiving Day - Second Monday of October

External Links

• Why Some Feasts Are Movable - Slate article.