December Holidays and Observances

Every fixed-date holiday and observance in December, from international days to national holidays and religious feast days. Select a day to see its full list. The dates are the same every year, so holidays whose date moves, such as Easter, are not listed. All entries come from Wikipedia.

November

December (419 entries)

January

All December holidays by day

December 1

International

  • World AIDS Day, and its related observances: Day Without Art Wikipedia

National and local

  • Battle of the Sinop Day (Russia) Wikipedia
  • Damrong Rajanubhab Day (Thailand) Wikipedia
  • First President Day (Kazakhstan) Wikipedia
  • Freedom and Democracy Day (Chad) Wikipedia
  • Great Union Day, celebrates the union of Transylvania with Romania in 1918 (Romania) Wikipedia
  • Military Abolition Day (Costa Rica) Wikipedia
  • National Day (Myanmar) Wikipedia
  • Republic Day (Central African Republic) Wikipedia
  • Restoration of Independence Day (Portugal) Wikipedia
  • Rosa Parks Day (Ohio and Oregon, United States) Wikipedia
  • Self-governance Day or Fullveldisdagurinn (Iceland) Wikipedia
  • Teachers' Day (Panama) Wikipedia

Religious feast days

What happened on December 1

December 2

International

  • International Day for the Abolition of Slavery (United Nations) Wikipedia

National and local

Religious feast days

What happened on December 2

December 3

International

  • International Day of Persons with Disabilities Wikipedia

National and local

Religious feast days

What happened on December 3

December 4

National and local

Religious feast days

What happened on December 4

December 5

International

  • International Volunteer Day for Economic and Social Development Wikipedia
  • World Soil Day Wikipedia

National and local

  • Children's Day (Suriname) Wikipedia
  • Day of Military Honour - Battle of Moscow (Russia) Wikipedia
  • Discovery Day (Haiti and Dominican Republic) Wikipedia
  • Klozum (Schiermonnikoog, Netherlands) Wikipedia
  • Saint Nicholas' Eve (Belgium, Czech Republic, Slovakia, the Netherlands, Hungary, Romania, Germany, Poland and the UK) Krampusnacht (Austria) Wikipedia
  • The King Bhumibol Adulyadej Memorial Birthday (Thailand) Wikipedia

Religious feast days

What happened on December 5

December 6

National and local

  • Anniversary of the Founding of Quito (Ecuador) Wikipedia
  • Armed Forces Day (Ukraine) Wikipedia
  • Constitution Day (Spain) Wikipedia
  • Day of the Ministry of Communications and Information Technologies of Azerbaijan Wikipedia
  • Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Finland from Russia in 1917 Wikipedia
  • National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women (Canada) Wikipedia

Religious feast days

  • Abraham of Kratia Wikipedia
  • Aemilianus (Roman Catholic Church) Wikipedia
  • Denise and companions Wikipedia
  • Blessed János Scheffler Wikipedia
  • María del Monte Carmelo Sallés y Barangueras Wikipedia
  • Nicholas of Myra, and its related observances: Saint Nicholas Day, where Saint Nicholas/Santa Claus leaves little presents in children's shoes. (International) Wikipedia
  • December 6 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) Wikipedia

What happened on December 6

December 7

International

National and local

  • Armed Forces Flag Day (India) Wikipedia
  • Eve of the Immaculate Conception-related observances: Day of the Little Candles, begins after sunset (Colombia) Wikipedia
  • National Heroes Day (East Timor) Wikipedia
  • National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day (United States) Wikipedia
  • Spitak Remembrance Day (Armenia) Wikipedia

Religious feast days

What happened on December 7

December 8

National and local

  • Battle Day (Falkland Islands) Wikipedia
  • Bodhi Day (Japan) Wikipedia
  • CARICOM–Cuba Day (Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and Cuba) Wikipedia
  • Constitution Day (Romania) Wikipedia
  • Constitution Day (Uzbekistan) Wikipedia
  • Liberation Day (Syria) Wikipedia
  • Day of Finnish Music (Finland) Wikipedia
  • Earliest day on which National Tree Planting Day can fall, while December 14 is the latest; celebrated on the second Monday in December. (Malawi) Wikipedia
  • Hari-Kuyō (Kansai region, Japan) Wikipedia
  • National Youth Day (Albania) Wikipedia
  • Nations, Nationalities and Peoples' Day (Ethiopia) Wikipedia

Religious feast days

  • Budoc (Beuzec) of Dol Wikipedia
  • Clement of Ohrid (Julian Calendar), and its related observances: Student's Day (Bulgaria) Wikipedia
  • Eucharius Wikipedia
  • Feast of the Immaculate Conception (public holiday in several countries, a holy day of obligation in others), and its related observances: Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Anglican Communion), lesser commemoration Wikipedia
  • Feast of the Immaculate Conception (public holiday in several countries, a holy day of obligation in others), and its related observances: Festa da Conceição da Praia, celebrating Yemanjá, Queen of the Ocean in Umbanda (Salvador, Bahia) Wikipedia
  • Feast of the Immaculate Conception (public holiday in several countries, a holy day of obligation in others), and its related observances: Festival of Lights (Lyon) Wikipedia
  • Feast of the Immaculate Conception (public holiday in several countries, a holy day of obligation in others), and its related observances: Mother's Day (Panama) Wikipedia
  • Feast of the Immaculate Conception (public holiday in several countries, a holy day of obligation in others), and its related observances: Lady of Camarin Day (Guam) Wikipedia
  • Patapios of Thebes Wikipedia
  • Pope Eutychian Wikipedia
  • Richard Baxter (US Episcopal Church) Wikipedia
  • Romaric Wikipedia
  • Theobald of Marly Wikipedia
  • December 8 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) Wikipedia

What happened on December 8

December 9

International

  • International Anti-Corruption Day (United Nations) Wikipedia

National and local

  • Armed Forces Day (Peru) Wikipedia
  • Fatherland's Heroes Day (Russia) Wikipedia
  • Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Tanganyika from Britain in 1961. (Tanzania) Wikipedia
  • National Heroes Day, formerly V.C. Bird Day. (Antigua and Barbuda) Wikipedia
  • Navy Day (Sri Lanka) Wikipedia

Religious feast days

  • Anna's Day, marks the day to start the preparation process of the lutefisk to be consumed on Christmas Eve, as well as a Swedish name day, celebrating all people named Anna. (Sweden and Finland) Wikipedia
  • Feast of the Conception of the Most Holy Theotokos by St. Anne (Eastern Orthodox Church) Wikipedia
  • Hannah (biblical figure) (Eastern Orthodox Church) Wikipedia
  • Juan Diego Wikipedia
  • Leocadia Wikipedia
  • Nectarius of Auvergne Wikipedia
  • Peter Fourier Wikipedia
  • December 9 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) Wikipedia

What happened on December 9

December 10

International

National and local

Religious feast days

What happened on December 10

December 11

International

National and local

  • Establishment of Kurdish Women's Union (Iraqi Kurdistan) Wikipedia
  • Indiana Day (United States) Wikipedia
  • National Tango Day (Argentina) Wikipedia
  • Pampanga Day (Pampanga province, Philippines) Wikipedia
  • Republic Day, the day when Upper Volta became an autonomous republic in the French Community in 1958. (Burkina Faso) Wikipedia

Religious feast days

What happened on December 11

December 12

National and local

Religious feast days

What happened on December 12

December 13

National and local

Religious feast days

What happened on December 13

December 14

National and local

Religious feast days

What happened on December 14

December 15

International

  • Zamenhof Day (International Esperanto Community) Wikipedia
  • World Turkic Language Family Day (UNESCO) Wikipedia

National and local

  • Bill of Rights Day (United States) 2nd Amendment Day (South Carolina) Wikipedia
  • Homecoming Day (Alderney) Wikipedia
  • Kingdom Day (Netherlands), moves to December 16 if the 15th is on a Sunday Wikipedia

Religious feast days

What happened on December 15

December 16

International

  • International Day of the Belt and Road Initiative Wikipedia

National and local

  • Day of Reconciliation, formerly celebrated as Day of the Vow by the Afrikaners (South Africa) Wikipedia
  • Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Kazakhstan from the Soviet Union in 1991 Wikipedia
  • National Day, celebrates the withdrawal of United Kingdom from Bahrain, making Bahrain an independent emirate in 1971 Wikipedia
  • National Sports Day (Thailand) Wikipedia
  • The beginning of the nine-day celebration beginning December 16 and ending December 24, celebrating the trials which Mary and Joseph endured before finding a place to stay where Jesus could be born (Hispanidad): The first day of Las Posadas (Mexico, Latin America) Wikipedia
  • The beginning of the nine-day celebration beginning December 16 and ending December 24, celebrating the trials which Mary and Joseph endured before finding a place to stay where Jesus could be born (Hispanidad): The first day of the Simbang Gabi novena of masses (Philippines) Wikipedia
  • Victory Day observances, celebration of the Indo-Bangla allied victory over Pakistan armed forces and the Liberation of Bangladesh. (Bangladesh and India[a]) Wikipedia

Religious feast days

What happened on December 16

December 17

International

  • International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers Wikipedia
  • Kurdish Flag Day (Global Kurdish population) Wikipedia

National and local

  • Accession Day (Bahrain) Wikipedia
  • National Day (Bhutan) Wikipedia
  • Pan American Aviation Day (United States) Wikipedia
  • Wright Brothers Day, a United States federal observance by Presidential proclamation Wikipedia

Religious feast days

What happened on December 17

December 18

International

National and local

Religious feast days

What happened on December 18

December 19

National and local

  • Goa Liberation Day (Goa, India) Wikipedia
  • National Heroes and Heroines Day (Anguilla) Wikipedia

Religious feast days

What happened on December 19

December 20

International

  • International Human Solidarity Day (International) Wikipedia

National and local

  • Abolition of Slavery Day, also known as Fête des Cafres (Réunion, French Guiana) Wikipedia
  • Bo Aung Kyaw Day (Myanmar) Wikipedia
  • Earliest date for Winter solstice's eve (Northern Hemisphere), and its related observances: Yaldā (Iran) Wikipedia
  • Macau Special Administrative Region Establishment Day (Macau) Wikipedia

Religious feast days

What happened on December 20

December 21

National and local

  • Armed Forces Day (Philippines) Wikipedia
  • Forefathers' Day (Plymouth, Massachusetts) Wikipedia
  • São Tomé Day (São Tomé and Príncipe) Wikipedia

Religious feast days

What happened on December 21

December 22

National and local

Religious feast days

What happened on December 22

December 23

National and local

  • Birthday of the Queen Silvia, an official flag flying day (Sweden) Wikipedia
  • Children's Day (South Sudan and Sudan) Wikipedia
  • Day of all level operational control structures servicemen (Ukraine) Wikipedia
  • Festivus, a secular holiday made popular by the sitcom Seinfeld Wikipedia
  • HumanLight (Secular humanism in United States) Wikipedia
  • Kisan Diwas (Uttar Pradesh, India) Wikipedia
  • Night of the Radishes (Oaxaca City, Mexico) Wikipedia
  • Tibb's Eve (Newfoundland and Labrador) Wikipedia
  • Tom Bawcock's Eve (Mousehole, Cornwall) Wikipedia
  • Victory Day (Egypt) Wikipedia

Religious feast days

What happened on December 23

December 24

National and local

  • Independence Day (Libya) Wikipedia
  • Day of Military Honour – Siege of Ismail (Russia) Wikipedia

Religious feast days

  • Adela and Irmina Wikipedia
  • Paola Elisabetta Cerioli Wikipedia
  • Adam and Eve Wikipedia
  • December 24 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) Wikipedia
  • Christmas Eve (Christianity) and its related observances: Aðfangadagskvöld, the day when the 13th and the last Yule Lad arrives to towns. (Iceland) Wikipedia
  • Christmas Eve (Christianity) and its related observances: Feast of the Seven Fishes (Italian Americans) Wikipedia
  • Christmas Eve (Christianity) and its related observances: Juleaften (Denmark)/Julaften (Norway)/Julafton (Sweden) Wikipedia
  • Christmas Eve (Christianity) and its related observances: Nittel Nacht (certain Orthodox Jewish denominations) Wikipedia
  • Christmas Eve (Christianity) and its related observances: Nochebuena (Spain and Spanish-speaking countries) Wikipedia
  • Christmas Eve (Christianity) and its related observances: The Declaration of Christmas Peace (Old Great Square of Turku, Finland's official Christmas City) Wikipedia
  • Christmas Eve (Christianity) and its related observances: Wigilia (Poland) Wikipedia
  • Christmas Eve (Christianity) and its related observances: Quviasukvik, the Inuit new year (Alaska, Canada, Greenland and Russia) Wikipedia
  • Christmas Eve (Christianity) and its related observances: Kūčios (Lithuania) Wikipedia

What happened on December 24

December 25

National and local

  • Children's Day (Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Equatorial Guinea, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gabon, Republic of Congo) Wikipedia
  • Tulsi Pujan Diwas (India) Wikipedia
  • Constitution Day (Taiwan) Wikipedia
  • Good Governance Day (India) Wikipedia
  • Quaid-e-Azam's Day (Pakistan) Wikipedia
  • Takanakuy (Chumbivilcas Province, Peru) Wikipedia

Religious feast days

  • Christmas Day, Christian festival commemorating the birth of Jesus. (Internationally observed) Wikipedia
  • Anastasia of Sirmium (Catholic Church) Wikipedia
  • Stephen (Armenian Apostolic Church) Wikipedia
  • December 25 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) Wikipedia

What happened on December 25

December 26

National and local

  • Boxing Day, except when December 26 is a Sunday. If it is a Sunday, Boxing Day is transferred to December 27 by Royal Proclamation. (Commonwealth of Nations), and its related observances: Day of Good Will (South Africa and Namibia) Wikipedia
  • Boxing Day, except when December 26 is a Sunday. If it is a Sunday, Boxing Day is transferred to December 27 by Royal Proclamation. (Commonwealth of Nations), and its related observances: Family Day (Vanuatu) Wikipedia
  • Boxing Day, except when December 26 is a Sunday. If it is a Sunday, Boxing Day is transferred to December 27 by Royal Proclamation. (Commonwealth of Nations), and its related observances: Thanksgiving (Solomon Islands) Wikipedia
  • Independence and Unity Day (Slovenia) Wikipedia
  • Mauro Hamza Day (Houston, Texas) Wikipedia
  • Mummer's Day (Padstow, Cornwall) Wikipedia
  • Saint Stephen's Day (public holiday in Alsace, Austria, Catalonia, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Germany, Hong Kong, Italy, Ireland, Luxembourg, Poland, Slovakia and Switzerland), and its related observances: Father's Day (Bulgaria) Wikipedia
  • The first day of Kwanzaa, celebrated until January 1 (United States) Wikipedia
  • The first day of Junkanoo street parade, the second day is on the New Year's Day (The Bahamas) Wikipedia
  • Wren Day (Ireland and the Isle of Man) Wikipedia

Religious feast days

  • Abadiu of Antinoe (Coptic Church) Wikipedia
  • Pope Dionysius Wikipedia
  • James the Just (Eastern Orthodox Church) Wikipedia
  • Saint Stephen (Western Church) Wikipedia
  • Synaxis of the Theotokos (Eastern Orthodox Church) Wikipedia
  • Vicenta María López i Vicuña Wikipedia
  • December 26 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) Wikipedia
  • The second day of the Twelve Days of Christmas (Western Christianity) Second day of Christmas (Public holiday in the Netherlands, Poland and Slovakia) Wikipedia

What happened on December 26

December 27

National and local

  • Constitution Day (North Korea) Wikipedia
  • Emergency Rescuer's Day (Russia) Wikipedia
  • Saint Stephen's Day (Eastern Orthodox Church; a public holiday in Romania) Wikipedia

Religious feast days

What happened on December 27

December 28

National and local

Religious feast days

  • Abel (Coptic Church) Wikipedia
  • Caterina Volpicelli Wikipedia
  • Feast of the Holy Innocents or Childermas; in Spain and Latin American countries the festival is celebrated with pranks (inocentadas), similar to April Fools' Day (Catholic Church, Church of England, Lutheran Church), and its related observances: Els Enfarinats (Ibi, Spain) Wikipedia
  • Simon the Athonite Wikipedia
  • December 28 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) Wikipedia
  • Proclamation Day (South Australia), celebration started on the day following Christmas (South Australia) Wikipedia
  • The fourth of the Twelve Days of Christmas (Western Christianity) Wikipedia

What happened on December 28

December 29

National and local

Religious feast days

What happened on December 29

December 30

National and local

  • Day of the Declaration of Slovakia as an Independent Ecclesiastic Province (Slovakia) Wikipedia
  • Rizal Day (Philippines) Wikipedia
  • The fifth day of Kwanzaa (United States) Wikipedia

Religious feast days

What happened on December 30

December 31

International

  • International Solidarity Day of Azerbaijanis (Azerbaijan) Wikipedia
  • New Year's Eve (International observance), and its related observances: First Night (United States) Wikipedia
  • New Year's Eve (International observance), and its related observances: Last Day of the Year or Bisperás ng Bagong Taón, special holiday between Rizal Day and New Year's Day (Philippines) Wikipedia
  • New Year's Eve (International observance), and its related observances: Novy God Eve (Russia) Wikipedia
  • New Year's Eve (International observance), and its related observances: Ōmisoka (Japan) Wikipedia
  • New Year's Eve (International observance), and its related observances: The first day of Hogmanay or "Auld Year's Night" (Scotland) Wikipedia

National and local

  • The sixth and penultimate day of Kwanzaa (United States) Wikipedia

Religious feast days

  • Pope Sylvester I (Catholic Church) Wikipedia
  • December 31 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) Wikipedia
  • The seventh of the Twelve Days of Christmas (Western Christianity) Wikipedia

What happened on December 31

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