When is Easter Monday?
In 2026, Easter Monday falls on Monday, April 6, 2026. It is classified here as a Swedish public holiday.
History of Easter Monday
Easter Monday, Annandag påsk, extends the Easter celebration into a second day. The custom of keeping major Christian feasts over more than one day is deeply rooted in European calendars, and Swedish law preserves Easter Monday as a public holiday.
Its modern role is wonderfully practical: it gives families time for one more shared meal, a final country walk or the journey home after an Easter visit. As daylight lengthens, the extra Monday often feels like the first real break of the Swedish spring.
Annandag påsk once formed part of an even longer Swedish Easter cycle: church and folk calendars formerly kept additional feast days before reforms reduced their number. The surviving Monday is expressly named in the Public Holidays Act as the day after Easter Sunday. Its modern character is correspondingly understated, because much household celebration has already occurred on Holy Saturday or Easter Sunday. Nonetheless it protects the return journey, family visit or outdoor day as a national legal break and is not merely compensation for Easter falling on Sunday.
How Easter Monday is observed
A nationwide public holiday on the Monday after Western Easter. Schools and public offices close; travel home from holiday destinations can be busy. Easter Monday is independently statutory every year; it is not a substitute for Easter Sunday and requires no employer-selected replacement date.
Traditions of Easter Monday
Second-day visits
Families may spread Easter meals and visits across Sunday and Monday. In Sweden, the second Easter day often completes a cottage weekend shaped by påskris, eggs and early-spring weather.
Spring walks
Parks, forests and waterfront paths attract people when early spring weather allows. In Sweden, the second Easter day often completes a cottage weekend shaped by påskris, eggs and early-spring weather.
Cottage returns
For many, the day is the last quiet morning at a family cottage before travelling home. In Sweden, the second Easter day often completes a cottage weekend shaped by påskris, eggs and early-spring weather.
Dates and observance rules are checked against the official Swedish government and labour-law guidance. Employer, school and local-service schedules can differ from the statutory public-holiday calendar.
History sources: Swedish Public Holidays Act (1989:253), Government Offices of Sweden: public holidays in Sweden, Government Offices of Sweden: official flag-flying days, Institute for Language and Folklore: Easter Monday.
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