How many days until Christmas 2026?
The next Christmas falls on Friday, December 25, 2026. The live countdown below uses the clock and time zone on your device.
- Weeks and days
- –
- Total hours
- –
- Weekdays in between (Mon–Fri)
- –
- Sleeps (nights)
- –
Christmas falls on a Friday. Sleeps counts the nights from today; weekdays in between excludes today and the day itself and does not subtract public holidays.
What is Christmas?
Christmas Day marks the Christian celebration of the birth of Jesus and has also become a broad cultural holiday centred on family meals, gift-giving, and time off work. In the United States it is one of eleven federal holidays, and in much of Europe, the Americas, and Oceania it is a public holiday with shops, offices, and many transport services closed or running reduced timetables.
Where it is observed: Observed worldwide; a federal holiday in the United States and a public holiday in most countries with a Christian tradition.
How the date of Christmas is set
Christmas is fixed on December 25 in the Gregorian calendar, so only the weekday changes from year to year. Orthodox churches that still follow the Julian calendar for feast days celebrate on January 7, which is the Julian December 25. When December 25 falls on a weekend, US federal offices observe the nearest weekday instead.
Christmas dates for the next 6 occurrences
Calendar dates and weekdays. Use the countdown above for the time remaining.
| Year | Date | Weekday |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 | December 25, 2026 | Friday |
| 2027 | December 25, 2027 | Saturday |
| 2028 | December 25, 2028 | Monday |
| 2029 | December 25, 2029 | Tuesday |
| 2030 | December 25, 2030 | Wednesday |
| 2031 | December 25, 2031 | Thursday |
Shipping and delivery cut-offs
The countdown that matters most for gifts is not the one to December 25 but the one to your carrier’s last reliable dispatch date. Postal services and private couriers publish holiday cut-offs each autumn, and ground services usually close well before express ones. International parcels need the most margin: customs processing and reduced flights over the holidays can add a week or more.
A practical approach is to treat the published cut-off as the latest possible date, not the target. Use the date calculator to step back from December 25 by the number of business days a service quotes, and remember that December 24 and December 26 are themselves non-working days in many countries.
Weekend years and observed days
Under US federal rules, a holiday that lands on a Saturday is observed on the preceding Friday and one that lands on a Sunday is observed on the following Monday. Christmas 2027 falls on a Saturday, so the federal day off moves to Friday, December 24, 2027. Private employers set their own schedules, so check your workplace calendar rather than assuming the federal pattern.
Countries with a Boxing Day or St Stephen’s Day holiday on December 26 often have their own substitute-day rules when the 25th or 26th meets a weekend. The working-day counter can show how a holiday week shortens a project timeline.
Frequently asked questions about Christmas
Why do some churches celebrate Christmas on January 7?
Several Orthodox churches calculate feast days with the Julian calendar, which currently runs 13 days behind the Gregorian calendar. Their December 25 therefore falls on the Gregorian January 7. The gap will grow to 14 days from March 2100.
Is Christmas a federal holiday in the US if it falls on a weekend?
Yes. Federal employees get the nearest weekday off: the Friday before a Saturday Christmas or the Monday after a Sunday Christmas. In 2027, December 25 is a Saturday, so the observed federal holiday is Friday, December 24.
Does the countdown reach zero at midnight in my time zone?
Yes. The live counter targets 00:00 on December 25 on your own device, so someone in Sydney reaches zero many hours before someone in New York.
Other countdowns
Days remaining until other holidays and observances. See all holiday countdowns.