More than just eggs: our definitive guide to the Easter weekend

1 The date for Easter changes every year, as the holy dates are determined by a lunar calendar. They are known as “moveable feasts” - but many are campaigning for them to be changed and fixed. Good Friday falls just before Easter Sunday, which is the first Sunday after the first full moon on or after the March equinox.

2 Easter Sunday is also known as Pasch or Resurrection Sunday, as it celebrates the day that Jesus rose from the dead.

3 In Western Christianity, Easter day always falls on a Sunday between March 22 and April 25.

4 Easter eggs are traditionally given as gifts for the holiday, but the tradition was started by members of the Christian community who stained eggs red to signify Jesus’s blood after the crucifixion.

5 Before chocolate eggs were given out to children and adults as gifts, painted chicken eggs were used instead.

6 The Easter season officially begins on Ash Wednesday, which is the first day of Lent. It follows Shrove Tuesday, or Pancake Day.

7 According to Guinness World Records, the tallest chocolate Easter egg measured 10.39m in height and was made by Tosca in Italy. It was measured at Le Acciaierie Shopping Centre, in Cortenuova, on April 16, 2011. The egg weighed 7,200kg.

8 An Easter egg hunt held in London in April 2012 took a Guinness World Record for having the most entrants. There were 12,773 people taking part.

9 The Easter Bunny originated in 17th century Germany as the Easter Hare , who brought decorated eggs to reward children who had been good.

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10 Hot cross buns are traditionally eaten on Good Friday - and folklore says that buns baked and served on this holy day will never spoil for the subsequent year.

11 The largest hot cross bun weighed 168kg and was made by the RSPB in conjunction with Greenhalghs Bakery, in Bolton, on April 5, 2012.

12 Easter Monday will be commemorated in the Republic of Ireland as the 100th anniversary of the Easter Rising, when 200 republicans staged an armed insurrection against British rule.

13 Easter Island in the Pacific Ocean was named by Dutch explorer Jacob Roggeveen, who stumbled across it on Easter Sunday 1722.

14 Under current UK law, shops larger than 280 square metres must close on Easter Sunday in England and Wales. Smaller shops, and all stores in Scotland, have no restrictions on opening hours.

15 Easter Sunday is the busiest day for UK churches outside Christmas. Last year 1.3m people attended Church of England services on Easter Day - half a million more than on other Sundays.

16 The 1948 film Easter Parade starring Judy Garland and Fred Astaire won an Oscar for best musical score.

17 In the Middle Ages people celebrated easter by decorating goose, hen or duck eggs. Edward I’s household accounts of 1290 recorded an expenditure of 18 pennies for 450 eggs to be gold-leafed and coloured for Easter gifts.

18 80 million chocolate eggs were consumed in the UK in 2015. British children will receive, on average, 6.5 Easter eggs

19 Twenty per cent of children have admitted to making themselves ill by eating too much chocolate at Easter.

20 In the Czech Republic, a tradition of spanking or whipping takes place on Easter Monday. Men spank women with a special handmade whip called a pomlázka. According to custom, women should be spanked to keep their health, beauty and fertility during the next year.