Easter Pilgrimages and Passion Plays

Where:	Locations countrywide including Lindisfarne, Northumberland
When:	Easter weekend, particularly Good Friday (Lindisfarne is on Good Friday)
Time:	Times vary; Lindisfarne usually from 9.30am but dependent on tides

One of the many ways in which the Easter season in marked in the UK is by groups of pilgrims walking with a cross to a holy site, or by the remembrance of the Easter story by the performance of plays featuring the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ. Some of the walks are short and low-key whereas others may take the whole of Holy Week, particularly if they end at a popular shrine. As they occur at locations all around the country and are too widespread to be listed individually on this site, I’d recommend contacting your local church or diocese to find one near you. Most of the events I’m aware of take place on Good Friday, though some are over the whole Easter weekend. The Hastings Passion Play is featured on this site as a good example of a regular dramatisation of long standing (see separate article for details), while one of the most visually dramatic of the Pilgrimages is the walk to Lindisfarne on Good Friday (details are given below). At Lindisfarne this tradition has been established over 40 years and you can expect a group of over 50 pilgrims crossing the sands of the two-mile tidal causeway,following the ancient pilgrims’ route to the island and carrying wooden crosses.