Did April Fools’ Day Begin as a Pagan Festival? The Surprising History of the Holiday

April Fools’ Day is a day for pranks, but the origins of this holiday may have surprising roots. While many scholars point to a 16th-century calendar shift for its inception, the day of mischief may have much older, wilder roots. Some historians trace it back to ancient pagan festivals, where laughter and merriment weren’t just for fun—they were ritual.

Among the strongest contenders? The Roman festival of Hilaria, where disguises and jesting were offerings to the gods. Another is the medieval Feast of Fools, a holiday inspired by Saturnalia. During that festival, there was much revelry and those on the lowest rungs of society briefly became the highest.

Let’s explore and see how today’s modern expression of April Fools’ Day might have started there.

Hilaria: The Roman Festival of Joy

Ancient Romans celebrated the festival of Hilaria (Latin for “cheerful” or “joyful”) on March 25th, near the vernal equinox which marks the start of spring. The festival was a part of an extended two-week celebration that honored Cybele (Rome’s Magna Mater or the Great Mother goddess) and Attis, her consort. The holiday honors their connection and his birth, death, and resurrection.

Hilaria (“The Day of Joy”) was the day that marked his resurrection. And that day was marked by masquerades, games, and general merriment.

From Book 1, Chapter 10, Section 10 of Herodian’s History of the Roman Empire:

“Every year, on a set day at the beginning of spring, the Romans celebrate a festival in honor of the mother of the gods. All the valuable trappings of each deity, the imperial treasures, and marvelous objects of all kinds, both natural and man-made, are carried in procession before this goddess. Free license for every kind of revelry is granted, and each man assumes the disguise of his choice. No office is so important or so sacrosanct that permission is refused anyone to put on its distinctive uniform and join in the revelry, concealing his true identity; consequently, it is not easy to distinguish the true from the false.”

The elements of socially acceptable revelry and merriment near the end of March have some similarities to April Fools’ Day.

Saturnalia: The Roman Festival of Misrule

Another similar Roman holiday was the festival of Saturnalia, held between December 17 and 23. It was a time of revelry, lavish banquets, and merriment.

The festival began at the Temple of Saturn with an offering to the god, and then the party took to the streets where Romans embraced noise making, gambling, chariot races, public drunkenness, and less strict dress codes.

Purim: The Jewish Festival of Reversal and Celebration

Purim is a Jewish holiday celebrated in a similar way to Saturnalia and Hiliara. It’s celebrated on the 14th of Adar (which falls in March on the Gregorian calendar). It commemorates the events described in the Book of Esther, where Queen Esther and Mordecai thwarted Haman’s plot.

Purim is a holiday of feasting, drinking, masquerading, and playful disorder. It encourages laughter, role reversals, and lightheartedness. People wear costumes and exchange of food gifts, such as hamantaschen, a cookie shaped like Haman’s hat. In some traditions, there’s also a spirit of playful deception, and pranks are part of the fun.

While religious in origin, Purim’s atmosphere of merriment, inversion of norms, and pranks, parallels to other springtime festivals of revelry like Hilaria and Saturnalia. And, April’s Fools’ Day.

The Feast of Fools: Medieval Madness

Finally, in the Middle Ages in Medieval Europe, there was an extended festival called the Feast of Fools. This rowdy week-long celebration, happened around New Year’s Day. And, it’s most likely the origin of modern April Fools’ Day.

This festival was mostly celebrated by the lower clergy, initially in Southern France, and expanded from there. It was characterized by the temporary inversion of social and ecclesiastical hierarchies, where lower clergy and laypeople assumed the roles of their superiors, engaging in parodies of church rituals and electing mock officials such as a false bishop or pope. The general merriment and inversion of positions reflected those Roman holidays.

It’s also worth noting that at that time, the word “fool” in those times was a synonym for humble.

So, as mentioned, the festival took place on New Year’s Day. Prior to the Gregorian Calendar’s creation in 1582, most of Europe celebrated New Year’s Day on March 25th, the day of Annunciation for Christians. Since the Feast of Fools lasted a week, that meant the celebration ended on April 1.

When the new calendar changed New Year’s to January 1, not everyone got the memo immediately and some people continued celebrating the old New Year’s date, making them the target of jokes and ridicule. Those individuals were called “April Fools” and were often subjected to pranks.

One popular joke involved placing a paper fish on their backs, symbolizing an easily caught, gullible person—a tradition that still exists today in France as Poisson d’Avril (April Fish).

So, Where Did April Fools’ Day Really Begin?

It’s likely that April Fools’ Day is an amalgamation of these holidays combined with the pranks that began in medieval Europe after the calendar change.

Regardless of its true origins, one thing is clear: April Fools’ Day has its roots in a tradition of merriment. So whether you celebrate by playing a harmless prank or simply let yourself have some fun, know that you’re participating in customs that date back thousands of years.

Sources and Additional Reading

• Sacred Folly: A New History of the Feast of Fools by Max Harris
• The Roman Festivals of the Period of the Republic: An Introduction to the Calendar and Religious Events of the Roman Year by W Warde Fowler
• Herodian of Antioch’s History of the Roman Empire
• “April Fools: The Roots of an International Tradition” by Stephen Winick
• Le livre de la deablerie by Eloy d’ Amerval
• “Why April Fools Day in France Involves Fish Pranks” by Amelia Parenteau