Other December Festivals & Events

There are other religious and secular festivals held around the time of Christmas.

Festivals that happen During December

• Hanukkah - the Jewish Festival of Lights. It lasts for eight days. Its date moved around but it normally happens in December.
• Kwanzaa - celebrates African and African American culture and history. It lasts seven days from 26th December to 1st January.

Other Christmas Related Dates in December!

• December is National Fruit Cake Month and National Eggnog Month in the USA!
• 5th December is St Nicholas' Eve. This is the evening when many children, especially those in part of Europe like The Netherlands and Belgium, put out their shoes, hoping that Sinterklaas will visit them!
• 6th December is St Nicholas' Day. The feast day of the original Santa!
• 8th December is The Feast of the Immaculate Conception. This is the day when it's traditional to put up your Christmas decorations in some historically Catholic countries like Ireland and Argentina. If you live in Catalonia in Spain, you can start 'feeding' your Christmas (or pooping) log!
• 13th December is St Lucy/Lucia's Day. The feast day of an early Christian martyr which is a day of 'light' in Scandinavian countries like Sweden and in parts of Italy.
• 16th December is when special masses leading up to Christmas start in some Catholic churches. In Mexico it's the start of Posada processions which take place each night until Christmas Eve.
• 21st December is the Winter Solstice/Yule in the Northern Hemisphere (the shortest day of the year). In the Southern Hemisphere it's Midsummer/Summer Solstice (the longest day of the year). It's St Thomas's Day and is sometimes called 'Blue Christmas' when some churches hold a service to mark the shortest day/longest night of the year. In Iran it's known as Yalda Night and is a night full of celebrations.
• 24th December is Christmas Eve!
• 25th December is Christmas Day and is the start of the 12 Days of Christmas!
• 26th December is Boxing Day, St Stephen's Day in Western Christianity. It's '2nd Christmas' in countries like Germany and is the start of Kwanzaa.
• 27th December is St Stephen’s Day in Eastern Christianity and it's National Fruit cake day in the USA!
• 28th December is the Feast of the Holy Innocents or Childermas and is when the baby boys killed on the orders of King Herod are remembered. (It’s also like April Fool’s Day in Spain and Latin American countries.)
• 31st December is New Year's Eve. If you live in countries Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Serbia, Armenia and parts of Poland you might get your presents on this night! New Year's Eve is known as Hogmanay in Scotland.