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The Christmas Season

When does the Christmas season start and end?

As this book keeps it, the Christmas season begins with Advent, the time of waiting, which starts on the Sunday on or nearest to November 30, four Sundays before Christmas. Christmas itself is often kept for twelve days, ending at the Epiphany on January 6, and some churches keep a longer season of forty days, which ends at Candlemas on February 2.

Counted from Christmas Day, Twelfth Night is the evening of January 5, the eve of the Epiphany. This year’s dates are on when is Christmas?, and the days of the season have their own pages: Advent, Saint Nicholas Day, Christmas Eve and the twelve days of Christmas.

True story

Four candles glowing in a row on a snowy ledge.
Plate III Four little flames on a snowy night.

In this chapter

  1. When does Advent start in 2026? What Advent means6 minTrue story
  2. What is Saint Nicholas Day?6 minTrue story
  3. Why do many countries celebrate on Christmas Eve?6 minTrue story
  4. What are the 12 days of Christmas? When they start and end5 minTrue story

Where our facts come from

  1. United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, "Advent", Opening section: Advent begins on the Sunday that falls on or closest to November 30; the four Sundays leading up to Christmas
  2. Church of England, Common Worship, "Times and Seasons: Christmas", "Introduction to the Season": "The Christmas season is often celebrated for twelve days, ending with the Epiphany. Contemporary use has sought to express an alternative tradition, in which Christmas lasts for a full forty days, ending with the Feast of the Presentation on 2 February."; for the name Candlemas, the same site's Epiphany page (https://www.churchofengland.org/prayer-and-worship/worship-texts-and-resources/common-worship/churchs-year/times-and-seasons/epiphany), "the festal cycle ends only with the Feast of the Presentation (Candlemas)"
  3. Folger Shakespeare Library, Juliana Avery, "Celebrating Twelfth Night", December 30, 2025, The opening ("traditionally celebrated on January 5") and section "What is Twelfth Night?": "In Elizabethan England, the Feast of the Epiphany… was celebrated on January 6, making the night of January 5 Twelfth Night. Practices vary somewhat today."