It is easter holiday time again, the ultimate springtime festival. The plants are revitalised and so to are we, after the difficult days of winter. We will dust down and don our favourite clothes and shoes as we dump our cold insulation gear. So, toss your winter boots to the back of the rack and wear the designer leathers you've been looking forward to. And remember to buy a chocolate egg for your friend too.



Easter holiday presents you and your family with opportunities for an enjoyable and memorable break. It is a time to leave the house and go to one of the many listed sites for camping, caravans, motorhomes, and year-round villas.

Many establishments are offering quality low cost holidays, especially the self catering accommodation. There are many superb destinations offering premier cabins or onsite caravans - all ideal for family breaks. Some of these facilities are what every kid would want, creating a great holiday atmosphere and also providing plenty of living space for the whole family, often with a dash of luxury in the high standard of furnishings and equipment offered.

So what is Easter holiday?

Easter is the most important religious holiday of the Christian liturgical year, observed in March, April, or May to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus. We are used to marking this date in April but unfortunately, this year, Easter has come early. Calendars have been with us for many years. The present calendar is a modified copy of the Roman calendar, designed by Romulus, which consisted of 304 days divided into ten months. The first month was March and not January as it is today.

The dating of Easter comes out of combining solar and lunar calendars. The dates are tied to the positioning of the moon. The date is supposed to be the first full moon day after March 20th. However, these dates are approximated astronomical full moon dates. So these moon sightings, unfortunately have nothing to do with Astronomy and your favourite scientists at NASA. Only the Hebrew calendar takes into account the motions of the sun, earth, and moon.

So why is Easter here with us so early? Well there are many reasons one of them is that this is a leap year. Leap years, in my understanding are a compensation system to recover the day lost when reconciling the time the earth takes to rotate on its own axis and the time it takes to go around the sun which is a solar year. So every 4 years, we must have an extra day.

Here is a quick note for you before you get confused. The Calendar Year is 365 days except if the year number is divisible by four evenly. When it is evenly divisible, we call it a Leap year of 366 days. Remember, the last year of a century is not a leap year unless it is evenly divisible by 400. For example 1800 and 1900 were not Leap Years, while year 2000 - the year when computers were supposed to crash, was a Leap Year.

Easter day is what politicians would call a 'flip flop' ie- something that cannot be pinned down. It is an elusive and slippery day but, luckily, knowing it falls between March and May means it's arrival is predictable to an extent. Some people say it is first day of full moon after March 20th but this is not universally accepted. People in the Middle East and Asian countries use calendars that are totally different. Easter for Western churches is March 23, 2008 whereas Eastern churches will mark the day more than a month later - April 27, 2008.

Here are some some reasons to smile about this year's Easter holiday. It is speculated that the next time Easter will be this early (March 23) will be the year 2228-that is more than 220 years from 2008. The last time it was this early was 1913. Many people who were alive then are no longer around.The next time it will be a day earlier, March 22, will be in the year 2285 that is more than 277 years from 2008.

While you reflect and debate the controversial moon sighting and maths of it all, grab yourself a deal. Book yourself one of the local hotels if you can't travel far, and continue the debate in a cosy and relaxed atmosphere. And enjoy your easter candy!