April Fool’s Day is being cancelled in 2018 thanks to the date of Easter.
This year Easter Sunday will fall on the usual day of April Fool’s Day, April 1, and the change to the calendar has been made to avoid a clash.
April 2 will also be a holy bank holiday thanks to Easter Monday meaning the traditional day of pranks couldn’t have been held until April 3 this year.
The date was considered too late – given that practical jokes shouldn’t be played after midday on April 1, so the annual festival has instead been cancelled.
The change has been ordered by The Pope, who has had the authority to change dates since his predecessor Pope Gregory XIII created the modern-day calendar in 1582.
The little-used power hasn’t been enacted since July 15, 1782 when the then Pope cancelled the date of his brother’s birthday because of an argument.
The Pope has declared there will be two April Fool’s Days in 2019 – one on April 1 and one several days earlier on March 29.
Vatican spokesman Father Pesce Daprile said: “We understand the British Government has organised a massive practical joke for March 29, 2019 which they’ve been working on for several years.
“We are sure everyone will enjoy it and it will make up for not having any April Fool’s Day in 2018”
