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Christmas
Christmas Day / Nativity of Jesus Christ
Also called: Nativity of Our Lord, Noel, Navidad, Natale, Рождество (Rozhdestvo), Genna/Ledet (Ethiopian), Dznoont (Armenian)
January 7 (fixed)
All Christians
On Christmas Day, churches worldwide celebrate the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem — with midnight Mass, carol services, nativity plays, and family feasts. Western Christians mark 25 December; many Orthodox, Coptic, and Ethiopian Christians celebrate on 7 January because they still use an older calendar.
Streets fill with lights, choirs sing 'Silent Night', and children perform nativity plays in schools and churches. If you've ever wanted to spend Christmas where the story began, Eden lists pilgrimages to Bethlehem and the Holy Land every winter.
At a glance
- Type
- solemnity
- Date type
- Fixed (same date every year)
- Regions
- Global
- Themes
- Birth of Christ
- Liturgical colour
- White, Gold
- Public holiday
- Yes — in at least one country
Common questions
Christmas Day is observed on January 7 (fixed). Moveable feasts shift each year; fixed feasts stay on the same calendar date.
The annual celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ in Bethlehem, as narrated in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke. The date of December 25 was established in Rome by the 4th century; Eastern Christians following the Julian calendar celebrate on January 7 in the Gregorian reckoning. The Armenian Apostolic Church uniquely celebrates Christmas and Epiphany together on January 6, preserving an ancient
It is associated with All Christians. It falls in the Christmas season of the liturgical year.
Yes — Christmas Day is a public holiday in at least one country (including GB). In the UK, check whether your nation marks it as a bank holiday.