Shrove Tuesday

Also known as "Pancake Day", "Fat Tuesday" and "Mardi Gras," Shrove Tuesday always falls on the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday which is the first day of Lent in the Christian faith. Dates vary from year to year, but it usually falls in February, sometimes early March. In 2010 it falls on 16th February.

It is the day of preparation for Lent, when the eating pancakes was made obvious by the need to up the eggs and fat, the eating of which were prohibited during the forty days of Lent.

Pancake races

Holding Pancake races is a tradition in the UK which dates back at least to the 1400s and are practiced in villages and towns throughout the country. It is thought to have originated when a housewife heard the church bells ringing for service whilst in the process of making her pancakes, so she ran out of the house still carrying her frying pan and pancake.

Nowadays, contestants have to carry a frying pan, complete with pancake, and race to the finishing line tossing the pancake a number of times throughout the race. The winner is the one who gets to the end first having constantly tossed their pancake.

Because Shrove Tuesday is directly linked to Easter, the date varies from year to year. Easter Day is usually the first Sunday after the full moon that falls on or just after Spring Equinox and can therefore occur on any date between 22nd March and April end. It's all a little complicated, so below are the dates of Shrove Tuesday from 2008 to 2050.

2008 — 5 February
2009 — 24 February
2010 — 16 February
2011 — 8 March
2012 — 21 February
2013 — 12 February
2014 — 4 March
2015 — 17 February
2016 — 9 February
2017 — 28 February
2018 — 13 February
2019 — 5 March
2020 — 25 February
2021 — 16 February
2022 — 1 March
2023 — 21 February
2024 — 13 February
2025 — 4 March
2026 — 17 February
2027 — 9 February
2028 — 29 February
2029 — 13 February

2030 — 5 March
2031 — 25 February
2032 — 10 February
2033 — 1 March
2034 — 21 February
2035 — 6 February
2036 — 26 February
2037 — 17 February
2038 — 9 March
2039 — 22 February
2040 — 14 February
2041 — 5 March
2042 — 18 February
2043 — 10 February
2044 — 1 March
2045 — 21 February
2046 — 6 February
2047 — 26 February
2048 — 18 February
2049 — 2 March
2050 — 22 February

Below are just some sweet and savoury pancake recipes on this site. Use the search form to find them all or visit the Pancake Recipes page.

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