Days until Christmas 2026: the countdown to Friday 25 December
Santa comes overnight on Thursday 24 December and the presents are opened on Friday 25 December. The clock counts to the day in your own time zone. Below it: sleeps, weeks and weekends, the USPS mailing deadlines, and the other days families here count to, from St Nicholas to Three Kings.
Friday, 25 December 2026: 57 days to go, counted on 29 October 2026.
Christmas 2026 on the calendar: mail-by dates and days off
Three kinds of date decide how the season goes: when the post office needs your parcel, which days are days off, and which other family holidays share the month. Each one is below with its weekday and, where an agency publishes it, a link to the source.
Military mail (APO/FPO/DPO): Ground Advantage
The USPS cut-off for delivery by 25 December. First-Class Mail and Priority Mail to military addresses can wait until 9 December.
USPS: 2026 Holiday Shipping DeadlinesFirst Sunday of Advent
The other three Advent Sundays are 6, 13 and 20 December.
Hanukkah begins at sundown (Friday)
The first candle is lit that evening and the festival runs to nightfall on Saturday 12 December. The dates move each year with the Hebrew calendar.
Hebcal: Chanukah 2026 (begins at sundown on Friday 4 December)Last postmark for USPS Operation Santa letters (Saturday)
Letters to Santa Claus, 123 Elf Rd., North Pole, 88888 must be postmarked by this day to be eligible for adoption by volunteers.
USPS: Operation Santa now accepting letters (14 Sep 2026)St Nicholas Day (Sunday)
Children in German, Dutch, Polish, Czech and Ukrainian families put shoes out the evening before, Saturday 5 December.
International mail and the military's faster classes
First-Class Package International and Priority Mail International, plus First-Class and Priority Mail to APO/FPO/DPO addresses.
USPS: 2026 Holiday Shipping DeadlinesPriority Mail Express International
Also Priority Mail Express Military to most military addresses. Ground Advantage to Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico and the territories has no fixed date on the USPS page; leave ten days or more.
USPS: 2026 Holiday Shipping DeadlinesGround Advantage and First-Class Mail, lower 48
The recommended last day for cards and most parcels.
USPS: 2026 Holiday Shipping DeadlinesPriority Mail, lower 48
USPS: 2026 Holiday Shipping DeadlinesChristmas Day (Friday)
Federal holiday, so a three-day weekend for most households.
OPM: Federal holidaysThree Kings Day (Wednesday)
Día de Reyes: gifts and the rosca de reyes in Mexican, Puerto Rican and Spanish families.
Orthodox Christmas (Thursday)
Churches on the Julian calendar, among them Serbian, Russian and Georgian parishes, celebrate on 7 January.
Planet HoHo has no connection to USPS. The mailing dates are the ones USPS publishes for 2026.
Workdays run Monday to Friday from tomorrow through Christmas Eve. Two federal holidays are taken out: Veterans Day (Wednesday 11 November) and Thanksgiving (Thursday 26 November).
Not on the official sites yet
- UPS and FedEx have not posted their 2026 holiday shipping dates on their official sites. They will go in once they are published.
Sources
- USPS: 2026 Holiday Shipping Deadlines
- OPM: Federal holidays
- USPS: Operation Santa now accepting letters (14 Sep 2026)
- Hebcal: Chanukah 2026 (begins at sundown on Friday 4 December)
USPS dates read on 21 October 2026 and again on 29 October, Operation Santa on 28 October, Hanukkah on 29 October, federal holidays on 7 October 2026.
What day is Christmas 2026?
Christmas Day 2026 falls on Friday, December 25, 2026, with Christmas Eve on the Thursday before it. A Friday Christmas means most families get a three-day weekend.
One clock, six time zones
The clock runs to the start of December 25 on your own device, so it never needs you to pick a zone. New York reaches Christmas three hours before Los Angeles, four before Anchorage and five before Honolulu, and each screen shows its own number. The line under the clock names the zone in use, and it changes when your phone does on a trip.
What is a sleep, and why count them?
A sleep is one night. Tonight is the first, and the count ends with the night of Christmas Eve, the one a child waits for. Weeks and weekends are on the clock too, because they are the units that matter for ordering gifts, school concerts and baking.
The other holidays on an American December calendar
Families with Mexican, Puerto Rican or Spanish roots wait for the Three Kings on Wednesday, January 6, 2027. German, Dutch, Polish, Czech and Ukrainian families put shoes out for St Nicholas on Sunday, December 6, 2026. Ukrainian, Serbian, Russian and other Orthodox families keep Christmas on Thursday, January 7, 2027. Hanukkah begins at sundown on Friday, December 4, 2026. They sit in the dated list above.
Read more about Three Kings Day, the rosca de reyes, St Nicholas Day and Orthodox Christmas.
What to do with the time left
Make a start on the Advent calendar, mail a note to the North Pole with the Santa letter generator, draw names with the Secret Santa generator, or look for ideas in the gift finder, from gifts for Mom to gifts for teachers. A walk through a Christmas market fills a weekend, and the elf ideas keep the mornings busy.
- How many days until Christmas 2026?
- Christmas Day is Friday 25 December 2026. The clock at the top counts days, hours, minutes and seconds to the start of that day on your own device's clock, so a family in New York and one in Los Angeles each see their own number.
- How many sleeps until Christmas?
- A sleep is a night, and tonight is the first. The last one is Christmas Eve, Thursday 24 December, the night Santa is said to come. Switch the clock to sleeps to see the live number.
- When does Santa come?
- Overnight on Christmas Eve, Thursday 24 December. Children find the stockings and presents on the morning of Friday 25 December.
- Is Christmas Eve a federal holiday?
- No. The federal holiday is Christmas Day, which falls on a Friday in 2026, giving most people a three-day weekend. Christmas Eve is a regular day on the federal schedule.
- What is the last day to mail Christmas cards and packages in 2026?
- For the lower 48, USPS recommends Thursday 17 December for Ground Advantage and First-Class Mail, Friday 18 December for Priority Mail and Saturday 19 December for Priority Mail Express. Military addresses are earlier: 4 November for Ground Advantage, 9 December for First-Class and Priority Mail. International parcels: 9 December (First-Class Package and Priority Mail International) and 16 December (Priority Mail Express International).
- How many workdays are left before Christmas?
- The counter shows the live figure: Monday to Friday from tomorrow through Christmas Eve, without Veterans Day and Thanksgiving. Christmas Eve itself counts as a workday, because it is not a federal holiday.
- When is Hanukkah 2026?
- It begins at sundown on Friday 4 December 2026, so the first candle is lit that evening. It follows the Hebrew calendar, which is why the date shifts between late November and late December.
- By what date must a letter to Santa be postmarked?
- Saturday 5 December 2026, if it goes through USPS Operation Santa and should be eligible for adoption by a volunteer. Adoption is not guaranteed, so a reply made at home is a fair back-up.