Pancake Day 2025: Why do we have pancakes on Shrove Tuesday?

This year, 4 March is Shrove Tuesday - otherwise known as Pancake Day.

Shrove Tuesday is a Christian festival marked all over the world but in the UK, Ireland, Canada and Australia it's often celebrated by eating pancakes.

Read on to find out more about Shrove Tuesday and why pancakes have become such a big part of it.

Why is it called Shrove Tuesday?

Shrove Tuesday is the day before 40 days of Lent.

Lent is meant to be a time of sacrifice, in honour of Jesus who spent 40 days fasting in the wilderness.

Shrove is the past tense of the verb shrive which means to go to a priest for confession or penance.

It takes place on a different Tuesday each year but it is always 47 days before Easter Sunday.

Lent begins from Ash Wednesday, the day after Shrove Tuesday.

Shrove Tuesday is also the last day of Shrovetide which actually starts with Shrove Saturday.

Why do people eat pancakes on Shrove Tuesday?

Lent is a time when people give up something.

In Eastern churches, Lent is a time to fast - which may mean that only one meal a day can be served, and certain foods like meat and eggs cannot be eaten.

In Western churches, the rules are more relaxed.

People stop eating something they really like, like chocolate or sweets.

Catholics may also choose to give up meat on Fridays during Lent.

But before the rules were relaxed, people would give up all animal products throughout Lent, including foods like eggs and milk.

Christians would eat pancakes on the last day before Lent begins, to use up things in the cupboard like flour, eggs and milk that they wouldn't be eating for Lent.

It meant they could remove any temptation!

What is Lent?

Lent is a period of 40 days where Christians remember the events leading up to and including the death of Jesus Christ.

Christians believe Jesus is the Son of God, and his life and teachings are the foundation of Christianity.

Jesus went into the desert to fast and pray for 40 days and 40 nights before beginning God's work.

Lent to many Christians is a time to give things up and test their willpower.

Millions of people do this as a sign of sacrifice, and Christians do it to represent Jesus Christ's sacrifice when he went into the desert to pray and fast for the 40 days before later dying on the cross.

According to the Bible, Jesus then came back to life on Easter Sunday. This is the most important day in the Christian calendar.

What other ways is pancake day celebrated?

People start the traditional annual Pancake Race in the Buckinghamshire village of Olney in February 1956

When making pancakes people often flip the pan to turn the pancake over - well how about doing that while running?

That's exactly what happens in pancake races which have been a tradition for a long time.

The legend is that a woman was busy making pancakes when the shriving bell rang calling people to church.

She rushed off still with her apron and her frying pan in her hand.

The first race is thought to have taken place in the village of Olney in Buckinghamshire at around 1445.

The Olney pancake race is now world famous!

Do other countries celebrate Shrove Tuesday?

The Mardi Gras festival in New Orleans, Louisiana, goes on for several weeks, ending in a big party on Shrove Tuesday

In some countries like France and the USA, Shrove Tuesday is also called Mardi Gras.

Mardi Gras translates to "Fat Tuesday" in French.

There are carnivals and celebrations but pancakes are not commonly eaten.

In Spain, the Thursday before Ash Wednesday is known as Jueves Lardero, which translates as "Fat Thursday" or Día de la Tortilla ("Omelette Day").

The day is similar to Pancake Day where people use up all their eggs before Lent and make delicious omelettes.