York Minster prepares itself for Easter

From fun family activities to reflective spaces to help visitors understand and appreciate the most important of Christian festivals, York Minster has a packed programme of activities for the Easter holidays.

“Easter is one of the busiest times of the year for York Minster with some of the largest and most important services in the church’s calendar, as well as being the real start of York’s tourist season and we’re well prepared to welcome people, whether worshipping or sightseeing,” comments Nicola Bexon, Marketing Director.  “It is still less than a year since our new visitor attraction Revealing York Minster in the Undercroft opened, which allows visitors to explore 2000 years of history beneath the cathedral, and this has proved extremely popular. Visitors can also take advantage of the once in a lifetime opportunity to see at close range restored medieval stained glass panels from the Great East Window in The Orb and learn about the craftsmanship involved in restoring this medieval masterpiece.”

The build up to Easter is when York Minster is at its most exposed with the elaborate tapestries, altar cloths and adornments removed for the season of Lent. From 12 April however visitors can see the Easter garden, which is installed in the North Transept, featuring three crosses set amongst flowering bulbs and plants beneath the Five Sisters Window.  A white cloth is also draped on the large wooden cross suspended beneath the Central Tower on Easter Sunday, representing the resurrection.

From Palm Sunday (13 April), children and adults alike will be able to take part in free Easter trails, encouraging them to explore different parts of the Minster, with the ever-popular Little Explorer Backpacks also available – packed with gadgets to help children uncover some of the cathedral’s hidden treasures.

For those keen to explore the spiritual side of Easter, a series of ‘reflection points’ will be set up around the Minster to help them to discover the Easter story and every Wednesday until 16 April at 11.00am and 3.00pm visitors can join Lectio Divina – a prayerful reading of the Bible – in the Eastern Crypt.

With music also at the heart of York Minster’s Easter programme, a series of concerts will run from 27 March through until 11 April, with music ranging from Handel’s Messiah to a contemporary version of St John Passion by leading composer Bob Chilcott. 

York Minster’s Passiontide services form the central focus for the period from Passion Sunday (6 April) right through to Easter Sunday itself.  The Palm Sunday procession will take place on Sunday 13 April, when clergy, choristers and congregation – including Joey the Donkey – will process from the Mansion House through the streets of York and into the Nave to mark Jesus’s arrival in Jerusalem and the start of Holy Week.

Unusually, with many cathedrals stripping back services to just the spoken word during Holy Week, York Minster hosts daily sung Evensong in the Quire at 5.15pm each day featuring moving music from the sacred repertoire, performed daily by the York Minster Choir.

For more information on events and activities in York Minster this Easter, please visit www.yorkminster.org

ENDS

For further media information, please contact:

Jay Commins or Samantha Orange

Pyper York Limited

Tel:         01904 500698 / 07810 546567

Email: jay@pyperyork.co.uk or sam@pyperyork.co.uk