Moveable feast

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For the book by Ernest Hemingway, see A Moveable Feast.

For the charitable organization, see Moveable Feast Charity.

In Christianity, a moveable feast or movable feast is a holy day -- a feast or a fast -- whose date is not fixed to a particular day of the calendar year but moves in response to the date of Easter, which date varies according to a complex formula.

By extension, other religions' feasts are occasionally described by the same term. In addition many countries have secular holidays that are moveable, for instance to make holidays more consecutive; the term "moveable feast" is not used in this case however.

Further, by metaphoric extension but with the meaning of a party that was on the move, Ernest Hemingway used the term A Moveable Feast for the title of his memoirs of life in Paris in the 1920s. This usage has become a popular phrase in food contexts, with several catering companies adopting it as their name.

[edit] Moveable feasts in Christianity

Triodion -- the period of 70 days before Easter (Eastern and Oriental Orthodox)
Septuagesima - Ninth Sunday before Easter (Pre-Vatican II Calendar)
Saturday of Souls - 57 days before Easter (Eastern and Oriental Orthodox)
Sexagesima - Eighth Sunday before Easter (Pre-Vatican II Calendar)
Quinquagesima Sunday - Seventh Sunday before Easter (Pre-Vatican II Calendar)
Mardi Gras/Shrove Tuesday - 47 days before Easter (Western Christianity)
Ash Wednesday - 46 days before Easter (Western Christianity)
Triumph of Orthodoxy - 42 days before Easter (Eastern and Oriental Orthodox)
Saturday of Lazarus - 8 days before Easter (Eastern and Oriental Orthodox)
Palm Sunday - 7 days before Easter
Easter - the date around which the others are placed
The Octave of Easter' or Divine Mercy Sunday, also known as Low Sunday or Quasimodo -- the Sunday after Easter.
Ascension Day - 39 days after Easter
Pentecost - 49 days after Easter (50th day of Easter)
Trinity Sunday - 56 days after Easter (Western Christianity)
All Saints - 57 days after Easter (Eastern and Oriental Orthodox), but in the West this feast is fixed on Nov. 1; INFORMATION NEEDS TO BE REVIEWED, because in the "All Saints" article, the Eastern & Oriental All Saints is said to be on Sunday)
Corpus Christi - 60 days after Easter (Western Christianity)
feast days of some significant saints days, if a moveable feast falls too close to their usual date.