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EveryParampara

Next: 2 Feb 2027

Candlemas

Forty days after Christmas: candles are blessed, French families make crepes, and Mexican tamales are shared.

Candlemas: Presentation of Jesus at the Temple
Photo: Andrea Mantegna, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

When is Candlemas in 2027?

Candlemas 2027 is on Tuesday, 2 February 2027. Other years: 2026, Monday, 2 February 2026; 2028, Wednesday, 2 February 2028.

About Candlemas

Candlemas, 2 February, recalls the presentation of Jesus in the Temple, forty days after his birth, when the old man Simeon called him a light to the nations. Churches bless candles for the year ahead, and the day closes the Christmas season for many traditions, so decorations are taken down. In France, La Chandeleur is observed with crêpes, and cooks hold a coin in one hand and flip the pancake with the other, for a year of wealth. In Mexico, the person who found the figure in the Rosca de Reyes hosts a feast of tamales and atole on this day, and nativity figures are dressed and blessed. In Puno, in Peru, it is the great fiesta of the Virgen de la Candelaria. In the English countryside, weather lore of the day became the American Groundhog Day.

Candlemas dates: 2026, 2027, 2028

YearCandlemas date
2026Monday, 2 February 2026
2027Tuesday, 2 February 2027
2028Wednesday, 2 February 2028

What is eaten

  • crepes
  • tamales
  • atole

Traditions of Candlemas

Groundhog DayThe weather custom that descends from it.

Also part of it, and being written: La Chandeleur (The French crêpe tradition.), Tamale (The Mexican dish of the day.).

More marked on Candlemas

🇩🇪 Germany and 5 moreChristmas tree A decorated evergreen or artificial tree placed indoors to mark the Christmas season.Festival 🇫🇷 France and 5 moreCandlemas A Christian feast of candle blessings marking the end of the Christmas seasonSpiritual 🇮🇪 Ireland and 1 moreImbolcLá Fhéile Bríde A Gaelic festival heralding spring and honoring Saint Brigid with woven rush crossesSeasonal · Feasts and festival meals 🇮🇱 Jerusalem, Israel and 5 morePresentation of Jesus at the TempleIn praesentatione Domini A February feast of candles and welcome, kept forty days after ChristmasSpiritual 🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 5 moreTwelfth Night The closing evening of the Christmas season, kept with cake, carols and wassailSpiritual · Feasts and festival meals 🇧🇴 Oruro, BoliviaCarnival of OruroEl carnaval de Oruro A Bolivian festival of masked pilgrimage dances honoring the Virgin of the MineshaftFestival 🇸🇮 Ptuj, Slovenia and 1 moreKurentovanje A rite of spring and carnival in Ptuj with masked bell-ringers chasing winter awayFestival 🇧🇴 Oruro, Bolivia and 3 moreDiabladaDanza de los Diablos An Andean masked dance depicting a battle between devils and the Archangel MichaelPerformance 🇩🇪 Aachen, Germany and 4 moreStraw bearStrohbär A carnival figure wrapped in straw, paraded through German towns to mark the end of winter.Festival 🇩🇪 Germany and 2 moreSwabian-Alemannic FastnachtFastnacht A late-winter carnival of masks and jesters kept before Lent in the Alemannic landsFestival 🇬🇷 Greece and 5 moreEpiphany A January feast of the Magi, the Jordan baptism and the Cana miracle, kept by ChristiansSpiritual 🇲🇽 Tlayacapan, MexicoChinelos Masked dancers from Morelos who spoof colonial manners at CarnivalPerformance 🇦🇲 Armenia and 4 moreBlessing of the Throats A Christian prayer rite touching throats with crossed candles for protection from illnessSpiritual
About this page

Written by the EveryParampara desk with AI assistance. Background: "Candlemas" on Wikipedia. Customs differ from place to place and family to family. If this is your tradition and we have it wrong, tell us.

Photo credits on this page

The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.

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