What day is Christmas?

Christmas weekday table, 2024–2035

Christmas Day is always 25 December — that date never moves. What does move is the weekday: it shifts forward by one day most years, and by two after a leap year. The table below shows exactly which day it lands on, so you always know whether the live countdown above will hit zero on a Monday or a Saturday.

When does Christmas next fall on a weekend?

When 25 December lands on a Saturday or Sunday, it changes how the holiday plays out for a lot of people — no extra day off from most employers, but often a longer stretch of consecutive days off around New Year. Scan the table above to see exactly which years that happens between now and 2035.

Is Christmas Eve counted too?

Not officially in most countries — 24 December (Christmas Eve) is the day of preparation: trees get decorated, presents get wrapped, and in several European countries the main meal even happens that evening. But the fixed public holidays are 25 and, in the UK and much of the Commonwealth, 26 December (Boxing Day).

Why is Christmas always on 25 December?

Unlike Easter, which follows the lunar calendar and moves around, Christmas is fixed to the solar calendar every single year. The date was set in the fourth century by the early Christian church, likely to coincide with existing Roman midwinter festivals around the solstice. That fixed anchor is exactly why the countdown at the top of this site can tick down to the second, every year, without ever needing to be recalculated by hand.