Christmas questions answered

Christmas Day 2026 is Friday, December 25, 2026. Christmas is on December 25 every year in the Gregorian calendar.

The Bible gives no date for the birth of Jesus. The earliest record of Christmas on December 25 is the Roman Chronography of 354, which lists it for the year 336. Historians still debate why that date was chosen.

Many Orthodox churches follow the older Julian calendar, which is currently 13 days behind the Gregorian calendar, so their December 25 falls on January 7. The next Orthodox Christmas is Thursday, January 7, 2027.

Advent starts on the fourth Sunday before Christmas, which is the Sunday nearest November 30. In 2026 Advent Sunday is Sunday, November 29, 2026. Most advent calendars start on December 1 instead.

Boxing Day is December 26, a public holiday in the UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and other countries. It is traditionally linked to giving gifts or boxes to workers and the poor. In 2026 it is a Saturday.

They are the twelve days from Christmas Day to January 5, the night before Epiphany on January 6. Some traditions count from December 26 instead.

Epiphany, also called Three Kings’ Day, is January 6. In many countries Christmas decorations come down around this date.

Kiribati’s Line Islands, including Kiritimati, use UTC+14 and reach midnight on December 25 first. American Samoa (UTC−11) is among the last inhabited places.

In some countries it is a full or half-day holiday; in others, such as the US and UK, it is a normal working day unless it falls on a weekend. Check your local public holiday list.

As of October 19, 2026, there were 67 days until Christmas. The countdown on the home page updates live in your time zone.

A normal year is 52 weeks and 1 day, so the weekday moves forward by one. After a February 29 it moves forward by two.

Christmas break dates are set by each school district, school or employer, so check your own calendar. The days until Christmas page shows how many weekdays are left.

Hanukkah is an eight-day Jewish festival of lights. It follows the Hebrew calendar, so its dates move in the Gregorian calendar; it often, but not always, falls in December.

Kwanzaa is a week-long African American cultural celebration from December 26 to January 1, created in 1966.