Day of the Holy Innocents

Origins and history

The name of the day comes from the Gospel of Matthew, which describes King Herod the Great ordering the killing of Bethlehem's young boys. His aim was to remove the infant Jesus. Christian tradition honours those children as the Holy Innocents, and 28 December became their feast, ranked in Catholic calendars as a Feast. For Spanish-speaking communities the date later gained a second, playful life. Alongside the church services grew a popular custom of teasing and being teased that now stands beside the religious observance.

How tricks are played

Jokes run through the whole day. Someone replaces the salt with sugar before a meal, or pins a paper cutout called a monigote on an unsuspecting back. A friend is told a long, unlikely story and watched to see whether it is believed. The moment the trick works, the joker calls out the words "Inocente, inocente", meaning innocent, innocent, or repeats a rhyme about a small dove that let itself be deceived. Nobody is meant to take offence. Being caught out is the point.

Newsrooms join in

The press takes part as well. In Colombia, Spain and Mexico, newspapers, radio stations and television channels put out invented stories on the day. Some look like ordinary reports and are believed until the correction appears the next morning. Others are exposed at the end of the broadcast. The habit mirrors what English-language media do on 1 April. Colombian television adds its own touch with los descaches, reels of the year's on-air slips made by presenters, shown as the year closes.

Lending and borrowing

A smaller custom, now fading, belonged to money and objects lent between friends. Anyone asking for a loan on 28 December was, by the informal understanding of the day, under no firm duty to hand it back, because the lender had played the innocent by trusting someone on a date set aside for trickery. The joke rested on the lender. Few people keep the practice today, but it is still remembered as part of the day's older humour.

Around the world

Local forms differ. In Pasto, Colombia, 28 December opens the Blacks and Whites' Carnival, with an event called Arcoíris en el Asfalto, Rainbow on the Asphalt, when people draw on the streets in chalk. In Ibi, Spain, crowds stage Els Enfarinats, a mock battle fought with flour and eggs. Some parts of Venezuela know the day as the Fiesta de los Locos, the Festival of the Crazies, and mark it in bright costumes and masks.

How Day of the Holy Innocents is kept

Friends, family and workmates play the jokes on one another through the day. Someone hides the salt and puts sugar in its place, or fastens a paper monigote to a back. A caller tells an invented story and waits. When the trick lands, the prankster says "Inocente, inocente", or gives the dove rhyme. Media staff take part too, putting out false items that are withdrawn or explained the next day. Church services for the feast are held, and in Pasto the day begins the carnival season.

When and where

The date is fixed at 28 December, three days after Christmas Day and inside the Christmas season. Because it belongs to a set date in the calendar rather than a movable one, the weekday changes from year to year.

It is kept across Spain and in the Spanish-speaking countries of the Americas, and also in the Philippines, places where Catholic feast days shape the year. The joking is strongest in Spain, Colombia, Mexico and Venezuela. Particular local forms belong to Pasto in Colombia and to Ibi in Spain.

What Day of the Holy Innocents means

Two meanings sit side by side. The first is grief and remembrance for children killed through a king's fear, a story the church has long read as a warning about power turned against the innocent. The second, added later, is a day when ordinary rules loosen: anyone can be fooled, and being fooled is treated lightly rather than as a shame.

Questions people ask about Day of the Holy Innocents

See also

HalloweenAn annual observance on 31 October marking the eve of All Saints' Day, rooted in Christian tradition and Celtic heritageChristmas EveThe evening before Christmas, marked by church services, family meals, and gift preparations across Christian cultures.Feria del SolMérida's February fair: bullfights, parades, concerts and the Queen of the SunDay of the DeadA Mexican remembrance of deceased family and friends with altars, marigolds and feasts

Good reading and sources

• Library of Congress CatalogLibrary of Congress, Article
• Library of Congress CatalogLibrary of Congress, Article

• Day of the Holy Innocents 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.