The Twelve Days of Christmas 2022

The Twelve Days of Christmas 2022 starts on Sunday, December 25, 2022 (in 79 days) and ends on Thursday, January 5th 2023 (in 90 days).  Calendar for 2022

The Twelve Days of Christmas, also called Christmastide ("Christmas time") and sometimes referred to as Twelvetide, is another name for the festive Christmas season celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ. It starts on Christmas Day, December 25, and ends on January 5 of the following year, known as Twelfth Night or Epiphany Eve. It is a period of celebration, feasting and Saints' Days.

It is a common misconception that the Twelve Days of Christmas are the twelve days before Christmas, coinciding with Advent and culminating in Christmas Eve or Christmas Day, however this is incorrect! In fact the Twelve Days of Christmas start on Christmas Day, considered the "First Day of Christmas".

They encompass a number of important religious and secular celebrations, including Christmas Day on December 25, St. Stephen's Day/Boxing Day on December 26 (also called "Second Christmas Day" or "Second Day of Christmas" in some countries), Childermas (or the Feast of the Holy Innocents) on December 28, New Year's Eve on December 31, New Year's Day on January 1, and Twelfth Night/Epiphany Eve on the evening of January 5. However, Christmas Eve on December 24 and Epiphany on January 6 are not part of the Twelve Days of Christmas.

While for most Western Christian churches the Twelve Days of Christmas fall on the dates listed on this page, for some denominations they start only on December 26 and last until January 6 of the following year.

"The Twelve Days of Christmas" is also the title of a popular English song, describing a series of gifts given on each of the twelve days of the Christmas season. The song starts as follows:

      On the First day of Christmas my true love sent to me
      a Partridge in a Pear Tree.

      On the Second day of Christmas my true love sent to me
      Two Turtle Doves
      and a Partridge in a Pear Tree.

and continues like this for every of the twelve days, adding a new gift in every verse and repeating and accumulating the already received gifts.

Further reading:

• Twelve Days of Christmas on Wikipedia
• The Twelve Days of Christmas (song) on Wikipedia

The Twelve Days of Christmas 2023 starts on Monday, December 25, 2023 (in 444 days) and ends on Friday, January 5th 2024 (in 455 days).  Calendar for 2023

Dates of The Twelve Days of Christmas 2022 and surrounding years as downloadable image file

US federal holidays
New Year's Day
Martin Luther King Day (MLK Day)
Presidents' Day
    (Washington's Birthday)
Memorial Day
Juneteenth
Independence Day (4th of July)
Labor Day
Columbus Day
Veterans Day
Thanksgiving Day
Christmas Day

Canadian holidays
Canadian Thanksgiving
Family Day

Australian holidays
ANZAC Day

The seasons
Spring
Vernal equinox (spring equinox,
March equinox)
Summer
Summer solstice (June solstice)
Autumn / Fall
Autumn equinox (fall equinox,
September equinox)
Winter
Winter solstice (December solstice)
First Day of Spring
First Day of Summer
First Day of Autumn / First Day of Fall
First Day of Winter

Christian (and related)
Advent
Advent Sunday
All Hallows' Eve
All Hallows' Day
All Saints' Day
All Souls' Day
Ascension Day
Ash Wednesday
Black Saturday
Boxing Day
Bright Saturday
Bright Week
Candlemas
Christmas
Christmas Day
Christmas Eve
Christmastide
Corpus Christi
Easter
Easter Day
Easter Eve
Easter Friday
Easter Monday
Easter Tuesday
Easter Saturday
Easter Sunday
Eastertide
Easter Week
Easter Weekend
Epiphany
Epiphany Eve
Fat Tuesday
First day of Lent
Good Friday
Halloween
Holy Friday
Holy Saturday
Holy Thursday
Holy Week
Jesus' Birthday
Lazarus Saturday
Lent
Mardi Gras
Maundy Thursday
Orthodox Easter
Palm Sunday
Pancake Day
Pancake Tuesday
Pascha
Pentecost
Pentecost Sunday
Pentecost Monday
Shrove Monday
Shrove Tuesday
St. Andrew's Day
St. David's Day
St. George's Day
St. Patrick's Day
St. Stephen's Day
Theophany
Three Kings Day
Trinity Sunday
Twelve Days of Christmas
Twelfth Night
Whit Sunday
Whit Monday

Other days
April Fools Day
Armed Forces Day
Black Friday
Buy Nothing Day
Cinco de Mayo
Constitution Day
Cyber Monday
Daylight Saving Time
Day of the Dead
Día de los Muertos
Diwali (Deepavali)
Earth Day
Election Day
Father's Day
Flag Day
Giving Tuesday
Grandparents' Day
Groundhog Day
Halloween
Human Rights Day
Indigenous Peoples' Day
International Women's Day
Mother's Day
Native American Day
New Year's Day
New Year's Eve
Panic Saturday (Super Saturday)
Parents' Day
Star Wars Day
Samhain
Small Business Saturday
Summer time
Super Saturday (Panic Saturday)
Teacher Appreciation Day
Teacher Appreciation Week
Valentine's Day
World Environment Day
World Teachers' Day