What day is Pancake Day? Locals in Liverpool call it ‘Pancake Tuesday’ as Shrove Tuesday arrives
Pancake Day is the popular name for Shrove Tuesday, the feast day that falls the day before Ash Wednesday and marks the start of Lent. The exact date moves each year because it’s tied to the lunar cycle; this year households across the UK marked the day with plates of pancakes and familiar regional names for the occasion.
Shrove Tuesday — the movable feast
Shrove Tuesday always comes the day before Ash Wednesday. It is not fixed to a calendar date; instead, its timing is calculated from the date of Easter, which is based on the cycles of the moon. That makes Pancake Day a movable feast — some years it lands earlier in February, other years later — but its role in the Christian calendar remains the same.
The day has a long association with preparation for the Lenten fast. Historically, people cleared their homes of foods that would be forbidden or sparingly eaten during Lent. In practice that meant using up rich ingredients such as eggs, butter and fat, and consuming leftover meats in the days immediately before the fast began.
Shrove Tuesday is observed by a range of Christian traditions including Anglicans, Lutherans, Methodists, Western-rite Orthodox and Roman Catholics. In many communities it was also a time to go to church for confession and absolution before the penitential season began — a practice reflected in the word ‘shrove’, which comes from the old verb meaning to be shriven, or forgiven.
‘Pancake Tuesday’ or ‘Pancake Day’? A local debate
While many people nationwide simply call it Pancake Day, some communities prefer other names. In Liverpool and nearby areas there is a strong preference for the term 'Pancake Tuesday', with many local voices insisting that’s what they learned as children.
A social-media post asking what the day is called prompted more than 180 replies from people in the city and surrounding towns. Commenters recalled family traditions and strict topping rules; one contributor wrote that, growing up in Manchester, pancakes were served only with lemon and sugar, and called the meal ‘Pancake Tuesday’. Others from Liverpool described both ‘Pancake Tuesday’ and ‘Pancake Day’ as familiar terms, underscoring how regional habits and household customs shape the language people use.
Not everyone uses the same phrasing. Some said they had always called it Pancake Day and only made pancakes on that day when they remembered. These competing but equally sincere labels reflect how living memory and local ritual keep the tradition alive.
Why pancakes? Cupboard-clearing and community
Food history helps explain why pancakes became the culinary emblem of the day. In the run-up to Lent, families needed to use perishable ingredients that would be off-limits during the fast. Meats were often eaten up on the Monday before Lent in what was sometimes called Collop Monday, while eggs, butter and fat were cooked into pancakes or fritters on Shrove Tuesday. The simplicity of pancake batter made it an efficient way to convert those items into a celebratory meal.
The day also carried civic and communal features: in some places a shriving bell would ring to call people to confession, and local customs sometimes included songs, rhymes and processions. Today’s celebrations are less formal but maintain the core idea of enjoyment and gathering before the quieter, more reflective season of Lent.
Whether it’s called Pancake Day or Pancake Tuesday, the event remains a widely enjoyed moment in the calendar — an occasion for families to fry batter, debate toppings, and keep a centuries-old tradition on the table.
