Days Until Christmas Eve

About Christmas Eve

December 24, the evening and day before Christmas, is itself a major observance in many cultures — in several European countries (including Germany and much of Scandinavia) the main family gift-giving and celebration happens on Christmas Eve evening rather than Christmas Day morning, a genuine cultural difference from the US/UK tradition of Christmas morning gift-opening.

It's also traditionally the day of the Christian vigil mass or service anticipating the arrival of Christmas Day.

Because the two dates sit back-to-back, this page's countdown and the separate Christmas countdown differ by exactly one day year-round — a useful sanity check if the two ever appear to disagree.

In much of Latin America, the main Christmas Eve meal and gift exchange, often called Nochebuena, typically runs late into the night and directly into Christmas Day itself, blurring the two dates into one continuous family occasion.