Countdown to Christmas

Days, hours, minutes, and seconds until Christmas Day — 25 December every year. Orthodox Christmas falls on 7 January for churches that follow the Julian calendar.

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When is Christmas Day?

Christmas Day falls on 25 December every year. Unlike many holidays whose date moves around (Easter, Thanksgiving, Black Friday), Christmas is a fixed calendar date — the only thing that changes year to year is the day of the week.

The two Christmas dates: 25 December and 7 January

Most of the world celebrates Christmas on 25 December — the Western Christian date used by Catholics, Protestants, and most Orthodox communities that have aligned with the Gregorian calendar.

But several large Orthodox churches — including the Russian, Serbian, Georgian, Macedonian, Jerusalem, and Coptic (Egyptian) churches — still use the older Julian calendar for liturgical purposes. They celebrate Christmas on the date that the Julian calendar marks as 25 December, which currently corresponds to 7 January in the Gregorian calendar that civil society uses.

That two-week gap exists because Pope Gregory XIII reformed the calendar in 1582 to correct centuries of accumulated drift between the calendar and the solar year. Most of the world adopted the Gregorian calendar over the following centuries, but most Orthodox churches kept the Julian calendar for religious dates. The two systems drift apart by roughly three days every 400 years — so the Orthodox Christmas date currently falls on 7 January, but by 2100 it will be 8 January, and by 2200 it will be 9 January.

Why 25 December for Christmas?

The Bible does not specify the date of Jesus's birth, and the early Christian church did not initially celebrate Christmas as a feast. The 25 December date was established in Rome around the 4th century, when the church under Emperor Constantine sought to align Christian observance with the existing Roman winter festivals — the Saturnalia (17–23 December) and Sol Invictus ("the unconquered sun," 25 December), which marked the lengthening of days after the winter solstice.

The choice of date was partly theological — early Christians associated Jesus with light, sun, and the renewal of the year — and partly practical: setting Christmas alongside the existing winter festivals made conversion smoother across the Roman Empire. By the time the date became universal in the Western Church (around the 6th century), it was deeply embedded in the cultural calendar.

Christmas traditions

Traditions vary dramatically by country, but several have become near-global thanks to 19th and 20th-century cultural exchange:

  • Christmas tree. Decorating an evergreen tree began in early-modern Germany and spread internationally after Prince Albert popularised it in Victorian Britain in the 1840s. American settlers and traders carried the tradition worldwide through the 20th century.
  • Santa Claus / Father Christmas. A composite figure drawn from the historical Saint Nicholas of Myra (4th-century Turkish bishop known for secret gift-giving), Dutch Sinterklaas folklore, and 19th-century American literary additions (the red suit was largely codified by illustrator Thomas Nast and later Coca-Cola advertising).
  • Carols and music. Most familiar carols were written between the 1840s and 1900 — "Silent Night" (1818), "O Holy Night" (1847), "Jingle Bells" (1857). The 20th century added the secular Christmas pop tradition that dominates radio in November and December.
  • Christmas Eve services. Midnight Mass on 24 December is the traditional Catholic and Anglican observance; many churches now also hold earlier "watchnight" services for families with children.
  • Gift-giving. Practices vary widely — some cultures open presents on Christmas Eve (Germany, much of continental Europe), others on Christmas morning (UK, US), and some on Three Kings' Day, 6 January (Spain, parts of Latin America).

Boxing Day and the Christmas-to-New-Year week

In the UK, Ireland, and most Commonwealth countries, Boxing Day (26 December) is a public holiday — historically a day when servants and tradespeople received gift "boxes" from their employers. Today it is associated with sales, football fixtures, family visits, and the post-Christmas decompression. When 26 December falls on a weekend, the bank holiday is observed on the following Monday.

The week between Christmas and New Year is widely treated as a quiet period across Western workplaces — offices often close or run skeleton staff, schools are on holiday, and personal travel peaks. It is one of the lightest weeks of the year for business activity outside retail and hospitality, both of which see their busiest stretches.

For the close of the year, see our Countdown Timer to set a custom countdown to your own New Year moment.

Christmas around the world

Some notable national variants:

  • Germany and Austria. The main celebration is Christmas Eve (Heiligabend) — tree decorated that afternoon, dinner served, presents opened, then late church service. Christmas Day itself is a quieter family meal.
  • Spain and Latin America. Christmas Day is observed but the bigger gift-giving day is Three Kings' Day on 6 January, marking the arrival of the Magi. Children traditionally receive their main presents then.
  • Japan. Not a public holiday and only loosely Christian, but 24 December is widely treated as a romantic date night for couples. KFC has become a famously popular Christmas Eve meal thanks to a 1974 marketing campaign that stuck.
  • Australia and New Zealand. Christmas falls in summer. Traditions blend British-imported turkey dinners with beach barbecues, prawns, and Christmas Day swims.
  • Russia and Ukraine. Orthodox Christmas on 7 January, with the bigger secular celebration on New Year's Eve — which absorbed many gift-giving and tree-decorating traditions during the Soviet era when religious holidays were discouraged.

Travel and planning tips

  • Book early. Christmas is among the most expensive travel periods of the year. Flights typically peak on the Friday before Christmas and the Sunday after. Booking 8–12 weeks ahead saves substantial money compared to last-minute.
  • Watch the calendar shift each year. Because 25 December is a fixed date, the surrounding weekend shifts annually. A mid-week Christmas Day (Tue/Wed/Thu) means more isolated working days between holidays; a Friday/Monday Christmas creates long weekends and heavier travel demand.
  • UK public transport runs limited or no service on 25 December. Most trains stop entirely, Tube and bus services are very limited. Plan local journeys for the days either side.
  • Some shops open Christmas Eve only until early afternoon. Plan grocery and last-minute shopping for 23 December at the latest.
  • Watch for Boxing Day fixtures. In the UK, the Premier League and other football leagues run a packed Boxing Day fixture programme — useful to know if you're travelling to or near a host city.

Track this countdown

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Frequently asked questions

When is Christmas Day?

Christmas Day falls on 25 December every year in the Western Christian tradition. The date never moves — only the day of the week changes from year to year. Eastern Orthodox churches that still follow the Julian calendar celebrate Christmas on 7 January instead.

Why do Orthodox Christians celebrate Christmas on 7 January?

Orthodox churches that use the Julian calendar celebrate Christmas on the date that corresponds to 25 December in that calendar — which currently falls on 7 January in the Gregorian calendar that the rest of the world uses. The gap exists because Pope Gregory XIII reformed the calendar in 1582 to correct accumulated drift, and most Orthodox churches did not adopt the reform. The two dates will drift further apart over centuries: by 2100 the gap will be 14 days; by 2200 it will be 15 days.

Is Christmas Day a public holiday?

Yes, across most of the world. It is a federal holiday in the United States and a bank holiday in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Boxing Day (26 December) is also a public holiday in the UK and most Commonwealth countries, giving a two-day break. In countries that observe Christmas as a religious rather than statutory holiday, services and reduced hours are common but offices may stay open.

What day of the week does Christmas Day fall on this year?

The day of the week shifts each year because 25 December is a fixed date. In 2026 it falls on a Friday, giving a three-day weekend (with Boxing Day on Saturday, observed Monday in the UK). In 2027 it falls on a Saturday, with Boxing Day observed on the following Monday in the UK. In 2028 it falls on a Monday.

When does the Christmas shopping season start?

In the United States, Christmas shopping is widely seen as starting with Black Friday — the day after Thanksgiving (fourth Thursday of November). In the UK and most of Europe, retailers start Christmas advertising in early November, with shopping ramping through the month and peaking on the last weekend before Christmas Eve. December 23 is consistently the busiest single shopping day each year.

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