Daily Ancestormoveable feast
A moveable feast is a church holy day whose date changes each year because it is counted from Easter, such as Whitsun or Ascension Day.
A moveable feast falls on a different date every year, unlike fixed feasts such as Christmas. Most are counted from Easter, which itself moves.
When a record uses one as a date, such as Shrove Tuesday 1748, look up Easter for that year in a table and count from it. The Calendar Act of 1750 included rules for finding Easter, and Julian and Gregorian Easter can differ, so use the right one for the record's place and date.
As seen in a recordMarriage note in a family Bible
Married on Easter Monday, 1749
How to cite this page
Daily Ancestor. "moveable feast." Dictionary of Old Record Words. https://dailyancestor.com/dictionary/dates-calendar/moveable-feast. Last checked 2026-10-01.