Christmas

What it is

Christmas is a yearly Christian feast that remembers the birth of Jesus. The gospel of Luke tells of a census journey that took Mary and Joseph to Bethlehem, where the child was laid in a manger and shepherds were told the news by angels. Matthew's account instead has magi following a star and bringing gifts. Churches read these passages in services. Around the feast sits a season: Advent, the weeks of preparation that open on the First Sunday of Advent, then Christmastide, which in western practice ran for twelve days and closed at Twelfth Night.

How the date was set

In the second century believers already kept the memory of the Lord's birth, though they had no single agreed date. Christians in Rome settled on 25 December, the day the empire treated as the winter solstice. The Chronograph of 354 is the earliest document to give that date, and historians hold that this entry was written in Rome in 336. Pope Julius I is credited with fixing it formally. Other churches kept the birth with Epiphany on 6 January, a day centred on baptism. The feast reached Constantinople in 379, Antioch about 388, and Alexandria in the next century.

How it is kept

Christians gather for church services, and in many countries the day is a public holiday. Homes are decorated with trees and lights, nativity scenes, wreaths, garlands, holly, ivy and mistletoe, and poinsettias. Families and friends meet for a meal, cards are sent, carols are sung, and gifts are exchanged. Children hear of a gift bringer: Santa Claus, Father Christmas, Saint Nicholas or the Christkind, depending on the place. Many also watch nativity plays and Christmas films, or follow an Advent calendar or wreath through the days of preparation. People who belong to no church often join in the festive and family side.

Food and drink

Christmas eating has always leaned towards plenty. Medieval halls served a boar at the winter feast, and a special brew called Christmas ale was part of the English season. A chronicler noted that in 1377 Richard II of England fed his guests 28 oxen and 300 sheep. By the seventeenth century English households were laying out lavish dinners, masques and pageants. Today a shared meal remains the centre of the day for many families, whether or not anyone at the table goes to church.

Contested and changing

Christmas has been argued over for centuries. In seventeenth-century England the Puritans called it a Catholic invention and their rulers banned it, while Anglican and Lutheran congregations carried on. Later, German-speaking lands developed a style of Christmas that spread widely in North America. Observance today reaches well beyond the churches: the weeks before 25 December are the busiest selling season of the year for many shops, and gift-giving drives much of that trade. Customs draw on pre-Christian, Christian and modern commercial sources in different mixes. For Christians, the day rests on the belief that God came into the world as a man to set right human wrongdoing, not on knowing the exact date of the birth.

How Christmas is kept

Advent opens the season, marked by a wreath or calendar. On Christmas Eve, and again on the day itself, Christians go to church, where the nativity accounts are read and carols sung. Families then gather for a meal and exchange presents, and children are told that a gift bringer has come. Homes show trees, lights, nativity scenes, wreaths and greenery. Some places keep a nativity play, a Christmas film, or cards sent to friends. In countries where the day is a public holiday, shops and offices close.

When and where

Most Christians keep it on 25 December. Churches that follow the older Julian calendar hold it on 7 January, which is 25 December on that calendar. Armenian churches keep 6 January, and the Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem keeps 19 January, with 18 January as Christmas Eve. A few regions put the main observance on 24 December.

Christmas is kept wherever Christian churches are found, and it is a public holiday in many countries. Rome is where the date was fixed and where the earliest record of it was written. In England, Germany and North America it grew into a long domestic season. Armenian congregations keep their own January dates.

What Christmas means

For Christians the feast carries a claim about God entering human history in the person of Jesus, born in humble surroundings. The date itself is secondary to that belief. The greenery and lights that decorate the darkest weeks speak of warmth and life in the middle of winter, a meaning older than the feast and folded into it. Gift-giving echoes the gifts brought to the child, and the shared table stands for welcome and belonging.

Days Christmas is marked

Christmas dates: 2026, 2027, 2028

Questions people ask about Christmas

See also

Christmas treeA decorated evergreen or artificial tree placed indoors to mark the Christmas season.Saint Lucy's DayA December festival of light and song held across Scandinavia and Italy to honour a Christian martyr.ChristkindThe traditional Christmas Eve gift-bringer across Central Europe and Latin AmericaChristmas crackerA decorative paper tube pulled apart with a bang during Christmas dinner

Good reading and sources

• Encyclopaedia BritannicaArticle
• BBC NEWS | UK | MagazineBBC, Article
• Who was Charlemagne? The unlikely king who became an emperorNational Geographic, Article
• History of Christmas Trees: Symbolism & TraditionsHistory.com, Article
• BBC NEWS | UK | MagazineBBC, Article
• Who was Charlemagne? The unlikely king who became an emperorNational Geographic, Article
• History of Christmas Trees: Symbolism & TraditionsHistory.com, Article

• Christmas on WikipediaEncyclopedia
• More photos on Wikimedia CommonsPhotos and video
• Wikidata recordOpen data

It may contain mistakes. Traditions differ from one family, village and community to the next, and the people who keep them know them best. If something is wrong, tell us. Last refreshed 2026-10-05.