Dates & Season
Christmas Day always falls on December 25, so the answer to “when is Christmas?” is simple — but the season around it is a sequence of dates that most people only half remember. Before Christmas comes Advent, which begins on the fourth Sunday before December 25 and can start as early as November 27 or as late as December 3. After Christmas comes Boxing Day, New Year's Eve, New Year's Day and Epiphany on January 6, the traditional twelfth day of Christmas.
The dates move in a predictable pattern. December 25, 26 and 31 and January 1 are fixed every year. Advent Sunday, by contrast, shifts with the weekday Christmas happens to fall on, which is why the run-up to Christmas is longer in some years than in others. Orthodox and other Julian-calendar communities celebrate Christmas on January 7 instead of December 25.
There is one more wrinkle that matters for a countdown: timezones. Christmas arrives at midnight local time, so the number of days left depends on where you are standing. A countdown calculated from a fixed server clock can be a day out, which is why the timer on our home page is calculated against your own timezone instead.
The list below covers the dates that matter most during the countdown, with the rule behind each one. Use it alongside the live timer on our Christmas countdown, and if you are curious about the customs themselves, our Christmas facts and traditions page explains where they came from.
The fourth Sunday before December 25
Advent Sunday opens the Christmas season and the countdown proper. It falls between November 27 and December 3 depending on which weekday Christmas lands on, and it is the day the first advent calendar door can be opened.
December 24, fixed every year
Christmas Eve is the day most families decorate the last of the tree, wrap the final presents and sit down to the first of the big meals. In many countries the main celebration happens on the evening of the 24th rather than on Christmas Day itself.
December 25, fixed every year
Christmas Day is the fixed point everything else counts towards, and the date the countdown on this site reaches zero at midnight in your own timezone. It marks the birth of Jesus in Christian tradition and is a public holiday in most of the world.
December 26, fixed every year
Boxing Day, also known as St Stephen's Day, follows immediately after Christmas. It began as the day servants and tradespeople received their Christmas boxes, and it is now a public holiday in the UK, Ireland, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
December 31, fixed every year
New Year's Eve closes the Christmas season with parties, fireworks and midnight countdowns. Because it falls exactly six days after Christmas, it is often the next thing people start counting down to once December 26 has passed.
January 1, fixed every year
New Year's Day is the first day of the calendar year and a public holiday in most countries. For many households it is also the day the decorations finally come down and the run-up to the next Christmas begins.
January 6, twelve days after Christmas
Epiphany, or Twelfth Night, is the traditional end of the Christmas season. It commemorates the arrival of the Magi, and in many countries it is the day gifts are exchanged rather than December 25.
January 7 in Julian-calendar traditions
Orthodox and other communities following the Julian calendar celebrate Christmas on January 7, which is December 25 on that calendar. The season then runs later, with Epiphany falling on January 19.
