April Inclusion calendar

Palm Sunday is the Sunday before Easter, on which Christ's entry into Jerusalem is celebrated in many Christian churches by processions in which branches of palms are carried.

Palm Sunday is 24 March in 2024 and 13 April in 2025. 

Maundy Thursday, also called Holy Thursday or Sheer Thursday, is the Thursday before Easter, observed in commemoration of Jesus Christ's institution of the Eucharist during the Last Supper.

Maundy Thursday is 28 March in 2024 and 17 April in 2025.

Good Friday is a Christian holy day observing the crucifixion of Jesus and his death at Calvary. It is observed during Holy Week as part of the Paschal Triduum. Good Friday is a Bank Holiday in the UK.

Good Friday is 29 March in 2024 and 18 April in 2025.

Easter Sunday marks Jesus's resurrection. After Jesus was crucified on the Friday his body was taken down from the cross and buried in a cave tomb. 

Easter Sunday is 30 March in 2024 and 20 April in 2025.

Easter Monday holds religious significance for Christians, as it follows Easter Sunday, the day Jesus Christ was resurrected following his crucifixion on Good Friday. For some it's a more solemn remembrance of Christ's death and subsequent resurrection, which is marked with an outdoor procession. Easter Monday is a Bank Holiday in the UK.

Easter Monday is 31 March in 2024 and 21 April in 2025.

Dates of Easter are determined on the Moon.

Rama Navami is a Hindu spring festival that celebrates the birthday of Shree Rama, the seventh avatar of the god Vishnu. Rama is particularly important in the Vaishnavite tradition of Hinduism.

Rama Navani will take place on 17 April 2024 and 6 April 2025.

The Ramayana festival is celebrated by Hindus, Sikhs, Jains and Buddhists, coinciding also with Ugadi/Telugu, the Hindu New Year.

World Autism Awareness Day – this day is about raising awareness of the diversity of the autism spectrum and we explore how this impacts staff and students at London Met. 

International Asexuality Day is a worldwide awareness campaign focused on recognising the full asexual spectrum. That includes asexual, greysexual, demisexual and all other ace identities.

Ace is an umbrella term to encompass anyone who fits within the spectrum of asexuality. An asexual person is someone who experiences little to no sexual attraction and/or sexual desire. 

Songkran (Thai New Year) – a festival celebrating the traditional Thai New Year, held in April and marked by the throwing and sprinkling of water.

Baisakhi, or Vaisakhi, is the festival which celebrates Sikh New Year and the founding of the Sikh community in 1699, known as the Khalsa. It is celebrated on 13 or 14 April and began as a harvest festival in the Punjab before it became the Sikhs' most important festival.

In countries where Theravada Buddhism is the most dominant religion, April is the month of celebration. It marks the end of the lunisolar calendar and the beginning of another, just like 1 January for most people in the world. Hence, this holiday is termed the Theravada New Year. It takes place on the first full moon of April each year. The exact date of celebration may vary from one country to another.

Hanuman Jayanti is a religious festival of the Hindus which is largely celebrated throughout India and Nepal. On this day, devotees celebrate the birth of Lord Hanuman. The day falls on the Purnima Tithi (Full Moon day) of Chaitra month. 

The 28 April signifies the end of Passover – the major Jewish spring festival that commemorates the liberation of the Israelites from Egyptian slavery, lasting seven or eight days from the fifteenth day of Nisan.

Sikhs celebrate Shaheedi Divas to remember Guru Tegh Bahadur and the day is observed as his Martyrdom Day. 

Guru Angad Dev was the second of the ten Gurus who founded Sikhism. He was born a Hindu with the name Bhai Lehna in Ferozepur, Punjab. Before meeting Guru Nanak at the age of 27, Lehna used to worship the Hindu Goddess Durga.  He also created many Sikh religious institutions and schools.

Agender Pride Day was first observed in 2021 and is one of the newest LGBTQIA+ celebration days.

Agender is also known as gender blank, gender-free, genderless, gendervoid, non-gendered, ungendered, or null gender. The agender identity is umbrellaed under the nonbinary identity.

Good Friday is a Christian holiday commemorating the crucifixion of Jesus and his death at Calvary. It is observed during Holy Week as part of the Paschal Triduum. It is also known as Holy Friday, Great Friday, Great and Holy Friday (also Holy and Great Friday), and Black Friday.

Earth Day, annual celebration honouring the achievements of the environmental movement and raising awareness of the importance of long-term ecological sustainability.

Stephen Lawrence Day was created by the Stephen Lawrence Foundation as a celebration of his life and legacy. It exists “to inspire a more equal, inclusive society, and to foster opportunities for marginalised young people in the UK”.

St George's Day used to be a national holiday in England. It is now an observance that is celebrated with parades, dancing and other activities. Flags with the image of St George's cross are flown on some buildings, especially pubs, and a few people wear a red rose on their lapel. 

Easter (Pascha) is one of the most important and oldest festivals of the Christian Church, celebrating the resurrection of Christ and held (in the Western Church) between 21 March and 25 April, on the first Sunday after the first full moon following the northern spring equinox.

Pansexual and Panromantic Awareness Day is on 24 May every year, to raise awareness of and celebrate pansexual and panromantic identities. Despite being coined way back in 1914, pansexual is a term many people today are still unfamiliar with.

Lesbian Visibility Day (LVD) occurs every year on 26 April, created to celebrate, recognise, and bring visibility for lesbian-identified members of the LGBTQIA+ community. It’s about honouring and elevating this unique community of people who are historically overlooked and dismissed by way of being both women and queer. 

The Night of Power – also referred to as Laylat-al-Qadr – is considered to be the Holiest night in the Islamic calendar. This was the night when the first verses of the Holy Qur’an were revealed to the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), by Angel Jibrail. This night falls within the last ten days of Ramadan, and although the exact date is unknown, it is widely believed to be the 27th day of the Holy month.

Yom HaShoah, also known as Yom Hashoah VeHagevurah, literally means the “day of remembrance of the Catastrophe and the Heroism.” It is commemorated on the 27th day in the month of Nisan. The observance is held one week after the seventh day of Passover. It also falls one week before Yom Hazikaron, the memorial day for Israel’s fallen soldiers.

The International Labour Organisation (ILO) marks its World Day for Safety and Health at Work on or around 28 April each year. World Day is an international campaign to promote safe, healthy and decent work around the globe.

Saint James the Great’s Day – The feast day of St James is celebrated on 25 July on the liturgical calendars of the Roman Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran and certain Protestant churches.

Ramadan is a holy month of worship, study of the Quran, prayer, and fasting. Ramadan occurs during the month in which Muslims believe the Quran began to be revealed to the Prophet Muhammad. It is a joyous celebration for Muslims. Fasting is one of the Five Pillars of Islam.

Ramadan in 2024 began on Sunday 10 March and will end on Tuesday 9 April.

Ramadan in 2025 is expected to begin at sundown on Friday 28 February and is likely to end on Sunday 30 or Monday 31 March.

Eid al Fitr dates depend on the moon.

Eid al-Fitr marks the end of Ramadan, the Muslim holy month of fasting, and is celebrated during the first three days of Shawwal, the tenth month of the Islamic calendar.

Eid al Fitr takes place on 10 April in 2024, 31 March in 2025 and 20 March in 2026.

Akshaya Tritiya – Hindu, Jain. The occasion of Akshay Tritiya is of unique importance as it is considered that the course of destiny transforms on this day, making the occasion greatly propitious. On this day, worship of gods, especially Lord Vishnu, is performed as the most important ritual.

Akshaya Tritiya will take place on 30 April in 2025 and 19 April in 2026.