Shrove Tuesday
Shrove Tuesday is the final day of Shrovetide, which marks the end of the pre-Lenten season. Lent begins the following day with Ash Wednesday. Shrove Tuesday is observed in many Christian countries through participating in confession, the ritual burning of the previous year's Holy Week palms, finalizing one's Lenten sacrifice, as well as eating pancakes and other sweets.
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Key facts
- Also called
- Pancake Day Mardi Gras
- Observed by
- Christians (including Catholics , Evangelical-Lutherans and Anglicans )
- Type
- Christian
- Observances
- Confession , the ritual burning of the previous year's Palm Sunday branches, finalizing one's Lenten sacrifice , eating pancakes and other sweets
- Date
- Concluding day of Carnival or Shrovetide ; the day before the start of Lent on Ash Wednesday . Shrove Tuesday is always placed 47 days before the western Easter Sunday
- 2026 date
- February 17
- 2027 date
- February 9
- 2028 date
- February 29
- Frequency
- Annual
Article
Shrove Tuesday (also known as Pancake Tuesday or Pancake Day) is the final day of Shrovetide, which marks the end of the pre-Lenten season. Lent begins the following day with Ash Wednesday. Shrove Tuesday is observed in many Christian countries through participating in confession, the ritual burning of the previous year's Holy Week palms, finalizing one's Lenten sacrifice, as well as eating pancakes and other sweets.
Shrove Tuesday is observed by many Christians, including Anglicans, Lutherans, Western-rite Orthodox Christians, and Roman Catholics, who "make a special point of self-examination, of considering what wrongs they need to repent, and what amendments of life or areas of spiritual growth they especially need to ask God's help in dealing with." This moveable feast is determined by the date of Easter. The expression "Shrove Tuesday" comes from the word shrive, meaning absolution following confession. Christians traditionally visit their church on Shrove Tuesday to confess their sins and clean their soul, thus being shriven (absolved) before the start of Lent. In a number of Christian churches of the Roman Catholic and Evangelical Lutheran traditions, the sacrament of confession is offered.