First Day of Spring Countdown

Spring officially begins at the vernal equinox in late March, when the sun crosses the equator heading north and daylight starts outrunning the dark. This countdown targets the next one.

How many days until First Day of Spring?

First Day of Spring is on Saturday, March 20, 2027, which is 223 calendar days away. The live countdown above ticks down to the exact moment, to the second.

See where this falls among everything else — the event calendar.

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The story of First Day of Spring

c. 800-900 CEMaya builders at Chichen Itza aligned El Castillo so precisely that on the spring equinox the setting sun casts triangular shadows that appear to slither down the staircase to meet a carved serpent head at its base.

c. 3,000 years agoNowruz, the Persian New Year, grew out of ancient Zoroastrian religious feasts; an 11th-century Iranian calendar reform later fixed it to the vernal equinox itself rather than a set calendar date.

325 CEThe Council of Nicaea set the rule Christian churches still use: Easter falls on the first Sunday after the first full moon on or after the vernal equinox, which the council pinned to March 21.

1582Centuries of Julian-calendar drift had pushed the equinox back to around March 11; Pope Gregory XIII's calendar reform deleted ten days to restore it near March 21, the date fixed at Nicaea.

12th centuryAngkor Wat's builders oriented the temple so that on equinox mornings the sun rises in line with its central tower, one of dozens of solar alignments identified across the Khmer temple complex.

1945A Life magazine story about Chinese eggs balanced during February's Lichun festival got reinterpreted by American readers as an equinox phenomenon; eggs balance the same way on any day of the year.

The great rebalancing

At the March equinox the sun rises due east and sets due west everywhere on Earth, and day and night are nearly equal. From here to the June solstice, the Northern Hemisphere gains daylight at its fastest pace of the year.

Why Easter moves

The equinox quietly runs the Christian calendar: Easter falls on the first Sunday after the first full moon on or after the spring equinox — which is why it wanders across a five-week window from late March to late April.

Quick facts

Spring begins at the vernal equinox, March 19–20
The sun rises due east and sets due west everywhere
Daylight grows fastest in the weeks after the equinox
Easter's date is calculated from this equinox

Learn more

Wikipedia

First Day of Spring — frequently asked questions

When is First Day of Spring?

First Day of Spring is on Saturday, March 20, 2027.

How many days until First Day of Spring?

223 calendar days, counting from today: First Day of Spring falls on Saturday, March 20, 2027. The clock at the top of the page counts down to the exact second.

Updated August 2026 · time-and-space.science

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