When are the 12 days of Christmas? And what does each day mean? (2024)

When we think of the 12 Days of Christmas, the famous Christmas carol enters our heads and gets us singing about two turtle doves and a partridge in a pear tree. But when are the 12 days of Christmas? And what does each day mean?

Here's our guide to the 12 days, when they begin, what each day means, and when you should be taking down your Christmas decorations.

The Twelve Days of Christmas, also known as Twelvetide, is a festive Christian season celebrating the Nativity of Jesus – known as the birth of Christ, or the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem on Christmas day.

According to English Heritage, the original Twelve Days of Christmas were a series of religious feast days celebrated as part of the Roman Catholic religion. We might enjoy counting down to the big day with an advent calendar, but Tudors fasted for four weeks leading up to Christmas, including on Christmas Eve.

Twelvetide officially begins on Christmas Day, 25th December, and finishes on 5th January, known as the Twelfth night, when Christmas decorations and Christmas trees are traditionally taken down.

During these 12 days, there are celebrations both secular and religious. It has been celebrated in Europe since before the Middle Ages and has always been a time of festivity. It is also known by some as Christmastide.

1. The first day of Twelvetide is Christmas Day, 25th December, and it's all about celebrating the birth of Jesus.

2. The second day of Christmas, 26th December, is Boxing Day. It is the day of the Christian martyr St Stephen. Boxing Day is also a public bank holiday in the UK, and it got its name during Queen Victoria's reign during a time when the rich used to box up gifts to give to the poor.

3. The third day, 27th December, celebrates St John the Apostle, who wrote the Book of Revelation.

4. The fourth day of Christmas, 28th December, is the Feast Of The Holy Innocents – when people remember those killed by King Herod in his search for Baby Jesus.

5. The fifth day, 29th December, is dedicated to St Thomas Becket – the Archbishop of Canterbury in the 12th century who was killed on 29th December 1170 for challenging the King's authority over the Church.

6. The sixth day, 30th December, remembers St Egwin of Worcester, who died on 30th December 717, he was known as the protector of orphans and the widowed.

7. The seventh day, 31st December, New Year's Eve, celebrates Pope Sylvester I. In Scotland, it is called Hogmanay.

8. The eighth day, 1st January, New Year's Day, celebrates Mary the Mother of Jesus.

9. The ninth day, 2nd January, is the celebration of the original Eastern Doctors of the Church: Saints Basil the Great and Gregory Nazianzen.

10. The tenth day, 3rd January, is the Feast of the Holy Name of Jesus.

11. The eleventh day, 4th January, honours Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton (1774–1821), who was the first native-born American saint.

12. The twelfth day of Christmas, 5th January, is the Eve of Epiphany – Epiphany being on 6th January. It marks the end of Christmas celebrations, and is typically when people traditionally take down their Christmas trees, wreaths and decorations.

'The Twelve Days of Christmas' song is a classic Christmas carol. The cumulative song (where each verse is built on top of the previous verses), runs through the 12 days that make up the Christmas season with a new gift, starting off with 'a partridge in a pear tree' and ending with 12 drummers drumming'.

The gifts are as follows:

1. A partridge in a pear tree
2. Two turtle doves
3. Three french hens
4. Four calling birds
5. Five gold rings
6. Six geese a-laying
7. Seven swans a-swimming
8. Eight maids a-milking
9. Nine ladies dancing
10. Ten lords a-leaping
11. Eleven pipers piping
12. Twelve drummers drumming.

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