March Equinox
March Equinox in United Kingdom, for the years 2018, 2019 and 2020.
| United Kingdom | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 |
| March Equinox | Tuesday 20th March | Wednesday 20th March | Friday 20th March |
March Equinox celebrations in the world
March Equinox is the equinox on the earth where the sun appears to cross the celestial equator, heading northward. It is known as the autumnal equinox in the Southern Hemisphere and vernal equinox in Northern Hemisphere.
March Equinox determines calendars in different regions
Equinoxes occurs between March 19 and March 22. The variation of leap years and normal years helps prevents the equinox date from drifting more than a day from March 20. Some regions use equinoxes to determine their calendars. The years calendar in Persia starts at the Northward Equinox. This is determined at Tehran. The National Calendar in India starts the day next to March equinox, on March 21 in a leap year and March 22 in a normal year. The Julian Calendar is also based on Equinoxes.
Commemorations and celebrations based on Equinoxes
Different regions have their own March equinox celebrations. These celebrations are commonly found in West Asia, North Africa, South and East Asia and in some parts of Europe. Equinoxes celebrations have also found their way in modern culture. According to the Jewish tradition, the Passover celebrations happens on the first full moon after the Northern Hemisphere equinoxes. Christian churches also use March Equinox to calculate Easter date. Christians celebrate Easter on the first Sunday after the first full moon on or after March Equinox. The churches designate March 21 as the March equinox date. Thus, the actual date of Easter differs year after year. The earliest date that these celebrations can happen in any year is March 22 and the latest date that the celebrations can happen is April 25. In West Asia, the Northward Equinoxes signifies the start of a new year. Thus, the Iranian new year celebrations, Nowruz, can either be celebrated on March 20 or March 21. The Persians believe that they had a King who descended to the throne on this day. Therefore, they commemorate the day each year with festivities that last for two weeks.