Good Friday 2025 and in 2026 year

Two-Week School Break

The Easter school holiday in the United Kingdom is usually around two weeks long, and most schools break up on Good Friday or the day before. However, this varies in local locations within the jurisdiction of the United Kingdom.

Are local business and Shops Open on Good Friday?

As Good Friday is a public holiday recognized officially, most businesses and organizations are closed, although some stay open. Horse racing used to be banned in the United Kingdom on Good Friday, but this is no longer the case. Most shops and supermarkets, restaurants, pubs, theatres, and cinemas are open on Good Friday as well.

Is Alcohol Served as Usual?

Historically, alcohol sales were restricted during the Easter period throughout the United Kingdom, but this is now only the case in Northern Ireland, where alcohol could only be served between the hours of 17:00 (5 pm) and 23:00 (11 pm) on Good Friday. On the days before and after Maundy Thursday and Holy Saturday, the bars in Northern Ireland have to stop serving at midnight. In the neighboring Republic of Ireland, alcohol restrictions were lifted in the year 2018, right after scrapping a 90-year-old law.

Many employees in the United Kingdom use some of their annual leave to extend the Easter bank holiday break. Bank holidays may as well impact how benefits are paid, but this varies a lot from business to business in the United Kingdom.

It has become a norm or custom among many Catholics not to eat meat on ordinary Fridays, including most especially on Good Friday. Even though most Christians in Britain belong to the Anglican Church of England, this norm or custom has made it common to enjoy an ultra-British dish, fish, and chips, for tea (dinner) on Good Fridays in the United Kingdom these days.

Easter Bus Times and Traffic

There tends to be some unusual congestion on the roads as many take trips during the four-day Easter weekend, which starts on Good Friday. Other means of transport such as buses, trains, and other public transport systems may run as usual or on a different timetable. British Rail generally schedules railway maintenance during the Easter week, which affects the schedules.

Why Is Easter on Different Dates Every Year?

Just as Good Friday is moveable, the same applies to Easter. Every Good Friday would always be two days before Easter Sunday - celebrated on the first Sunday after the first Full Moon on or after the March equinox, but never before 22nd March. Additionally, the Church of England and the Roman Catholic Church both follow the Gregorian Calendar and celebrate Easter Sunday on the same dates. Although, the majority of Orthodox churches today still follow the Julian Calendar and celebrate Orthodox Good Friday a little later in the spring, most years.

Procession in Good Friday day

Good Friday is an ecumenical service, meaning that it involves members from several different Christian denominations and it is open to anyone. And there is a religious service called the Crucifixion on Victoria Street in London. There is also a silent procession along the same Victoria Street, where a wooden cross is carried at the front, in the same way as in many other European cities. Moreover, the most famous of these processions is the Way of the Cross in Rome, Italy.  This would always have the tally of Tens of thousands of pilgrims from all over the world gathered in the ancient city to watch the Pope lead the torchlit procession on the Good Friday.

What the “Good” Friday means?

In Christianity, Good Friday is also known as the Passion of Christ, and it is the day Jesus was crucified in Jerusalem. It is for all Christians a day of mourning, and there are special services to commemorate the crucifixion and suffering of Jesus on the cross. Though, in most Anglican churches, there are no flowers or decorations on Good Fridays. It may seem strange or contrastive that a day of death and suffering is known as “Good” Friday, and there are several conceptions to explain why the name is “Good Friday.” The word ‘Good’ may simply be a different spelling or pronunciation of the word “God,” or it may have been another, now lost, the meaning of “holy.” There is another concept that emphasized the tragedy of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, eventually bringing excellent “good” to His followers –Christians.

The Good Friday Agreement

This reminds of the agreements that were signed by different parties with inference on consecrating the Good Friday. Hence, on 10th April 1998, the Good Friday Agreement or Belfast Agreement was signed. This was a significant move in the political process to end ‘sectarian violence in Northern Ireland.’ A multi-party agreement by most of NorthernIreland’s political parties was signed, as well as an international agreement between the British and Irish governments.

Etymology

A common folk etymology incorrectly explains“Good Friday” as a corruption of“God Frida,” which is similar to the linguistically correct description of the term “goodby” as a contraction of the regular Christian expression “God be with you”. An in-depth understanding of the term “Good Frida” has revealed that the term ensued from the obsolete sense or remark “pious, holy” of the word “goo.” Less common instances of expressions based on this obsolete sense of the term “goo” include “the good boo” for the Bible, “good tiding” for “Christma” or Shrovetide, and Good Wednesday for the Wednesday in the Holy Week. If we are to be considering the old English, the day was referred to as “Long Friday” “Langa frigedæ,” and this term was adopted from Old English and is still used in Scandinavian languages and Finnish.