The first day of Lent — 40 days of penitence before Easter.
Ash Wednesday marks the start of the 40-day Lenten season of fasting, prayer, and repentance leading to Easter. The name comes from the practice of marking foreheads with ashes — typically burned palm fronds from the previous year's Palm Sunday — as a sign of mortality and penitence.
Computed for Cape Town (Africa/Johannesburg) using local sunrise, sunset and astronomical positions.
Other observances and vrats falling in February 2027, with dates computed for Cape Town.
See every observance, vrat and ekadashi computed precisely for Cape Town — or pick a different city.
A more detailed account of Ash Wednesday in Cape Town — its mythology, regional variations, and rituals — is being prepared.