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Christmas Time

When is Christmas officially over-The epiphany

After the Christmas season, there is the widespread debate about when the Christmas season is over and when to pack up your Christmas tree and decorations. The date for the end of the season is a highly debated topic. The end of the Christmas season is popularly counted 12 days from the day of Christmas. So it is either the 5th or 6th of January as some Christians begin counting the days from after the Christmas day. Some people also believe it is bad luck to take down Christmas decorations before or after the chosen date when the Christmas season ends. 

Everyone has their ideas when it comes to when the Christmas season ends. For some, they leave the Christmas decorations up until the Twelfth Night, which spans December 25 to January 5. For some others, the decorations stay until January 6, which is the day of Epiphany. 

One thing’s for sure – everyone does it differently, and everyone has their ideas.

In Britain, tradition has it that Christmas decorations stay up until Twelfth Night.

And this is where the confusion lies. Twelfth night is a festival in some branches of Christianity which marks the beginning of Epiphany. A count of exactly 12 days from December 25 arrives on January 5. According to the Church of England, this day is the Twelfth Night. The day of Epiphany – when the three wise men came – is the day after, on January 6.

Some countries who follow the tradition of taking down the Christmas decorations on January 6 include Poland, Czech Republic, and Germany while people in the U.K. mostly go with that of January 5.

Not everyone agrees, however. Many other Christian groups count the 12 days of Christmas as starting the day after Christmas Day – making January 6 the Twelfth Night. Countries that also follow the January 6 tradition include Germany, Poland, and the Czech Republic.

According to some other beliefs, the Christmas season is not over until Candleman-2nd of January.

Whatever date is to your liking, all you have to know is; the rules for the end of the season have changed over history.

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