When Is Christmas?
Christmas 2026 is on Friday, December 25 — in 50 days. It is on December 25 every year; in 2027 it falls on a Saturday. That year the federal day off is Friday, December 24, 2027.
Updated · By the YearlyCalendar.org team
Christmas Day is the Christian feast of the birth of Jesus and a US federal holiday. It is also widely celebrated as a secular holiday of gift-giving and family gatherings.
December 2026 calendar
Christmas is marked on Friday, December 25, 2026, along with the other US federal holidays and observances of the month.
- Federal holiday / day off
- Observance
- Weekend
December 2026 – Christmas 2026
| Wk | SundaySun | MondayMon | TuesdayTue | WednesdayWed | ThursdayThu | FridayFri | SaturdaySat |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 49 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5Hanukkah (first day) | ||
| 50 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 |
| 51 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 |
| 52 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24Christmas Eve | 25Christmas Day | 26 |
| 53 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31New Year's Eve |
Christmas dates 2020–2040
Christmas falls on a weekend in 7 of these 21 years; federal employees then get the Friday before (Saturday) or the Monday after (Sunday) off.
| Year | Date | Day | Federal day off | 3-day weekend |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | Friday | — | Fri, Dec 25 – Sun, Dec 27 | |
| 2021 | Saturday | Fri, Dec 24 – Sun, Dec 26 | ||
| 2022 | Sunday | Sat, Dec 24 – Mon, Dec 26 | ||
| 2023 | Monday | — | Sat, Dec 23 – Mon, Dec 25 | |
| 2024 | Wednesday | — | — | |
| 2025 | Thursday | — | — | |
| 2026 | Next | Friday | — | Fri, Dec 25 – Sun, Dec 27 |
| 2027 | Saturday | Fri, Dec 24 – Sun, Dec 26 | ||
| 2028 | Monday | — | Sat, Dec 23 – Mon, Dec 25 | |
| 2029 | Tuesday | — | — | |
| 2030 | Wednesday | — | — | |
| 2031 | Thursday | — | — | |
| 2032 | Saturday | Fri, Dec 24 – Sun, Dec 26 | ||
| 2033 | Sunday | Sat, Dec 24 – Mon, Dec 26 | ||
| 2034 | Monday | — | Sat, Dec 23 – Mon, Dec 25 | |
| 2035 | Tuesday | — | — | |
| 2036 | Thursday | — | — | |
| 2037 | Friday | — | Fri, Dec 25 – Sun, Dec 27 | |
| 2038 | Saturday | Fri, Dec 24 – Sun, Dec 26 | ||
| 2039 | Sunday | Sat, Dec 24 – Mon, Dec 26 | ||
| 2040 | Tuesday | — | — |
Christmas as a federal holiday
An act of Congress of June 28, 1870, made Christmas Day, New Year's Day, Independence Day and Thanksgiving the first holidays for federal employees in Washington, D.C.; an 1885 law extended holiday pay to federal workers elsewhere. Federal law (5 U.S.C. § 6103) lists "Christmas Day, December 25."
What's open and closed
- Federal offices, Federal Reserve Banks, post offices, the New York Stock Exchange and the bond market are closed on Christmas Day or its observed weekday.
- On Christmas Eve, when it is a regular trading day, the NYSE closes early at 1:00 PM ET — it did on December 24, 2025, and the same early close is scheduled for 2026 — and SIFMA has recommended a 2:00 PM ET bond-market close.
The National Christmas Tree
President Calvin Coolidge lit the first National Christmas Tree, a 48-foot balsam fir from Vermont, on the Ellipse south of the White House at 5 PM on Christmas Eve, 1923. The lighting has been a presidential tradition in most years since.
Sources
- Congressional Research Service – Federal Holidays: Evolution and Current Practices
- 5 U.S.C. § 6103 – Legal public holidays (Cornell LII)
- U.S. Office of Personnel Management – Federal holidays
- GovInfo – Executive Order 14371 (closing federal agencies December 24 and 26, 2025)
- NYSE – Holidays and trading hours
- SIFMA – Holiday schedule (bond market recommendations)
- Federal Reserve Board – Holidays observed
- U.S. Postal Service – Holidays and events
- National Park Service – History of the National Christmas Tree
Frequently asked questions
When is Christmas 2027?
Christmas 2027 is on Saturday, December 25, 2027. Because it falls on a Saturday, the federal holiday is observed on Friday, December 24, 2027. Federal employees get a 3-day weekend, Fri, Dec 24 – Sun, Dec 26, 2027.
What happens when Christmas falls on a weekend?
Federal employees get Friday, December 24 off when Christmas is a Saturday, and Monday, December 26 off when it is a Sunday. For a Saturday Christmas, Federal Reserve Banks and post offices still open on Friday, December 24, as their 2027 schedules show.
Is Christmas Eve a federal holiday?
No, but presidents sometimes close executive departments by executive order. Executive Order 14371, signed December 18, 2025, closed them on December 24 and 26, 2025.
Why do some churches celebrate Christmas on January 7?
Orthodox churches that follow the Julian calendar, such as the Russian and Serbian Orthodox churches, celebrate on December 25 of that calendar, which is currently 13 days behind the Gregorian calendar and so corresponds to January 7.