Orthodox Christmas Dates Table
| Year | Christmas Eve (Julian) | Christmas Day | Epiphany |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Tue, Jan 6 | Wed, Jan 7 | Mon, Jan 19 |
| 2027 | Wed, Jan 6 | Thu, Jan 7 | Tue, Jan 19 |
| 2028 | Thu, Jan 6 | Fri, Jan 7 | Wed, Jan 19 |
| 2029 | Sat, Jan 6 | Sun, Jan 7 | Fri, Jan 19 |
| 2030 | Sun, Jan 6 | Mon, Jan 7 | Sat, Jan 19 |
| 2031 | Mon, Jan 6 | Tue, Jan 7 | Sun, Jan 19 |
Millions of people open presents on January 7, and the reason is not that they are late: the Eastern churches that keep the old Julian ecclesiastical calendar celebrate the fixed feasts 13 days behind the Gregorian civil calendar that phones and wall calendars run on. December 25 Julian is January 7 Gregorian - the same feast, a different page of the calendar, every single year.
Bottom line: the table below gives Christmas Eve (January 6), Christmas Day (January 7) and Epiphany (January 19) through 2031 with weekdays, plus a live countdown to the next one. The same 13-day shift explains the folk "Old New Year" on January 14 - the Julian new page turning while the Gregorian year is already two weeks old.
The honest part: "Orthodox Christmas on January 7" is a shorthand, not a rule - it describes the churches still on the Julian church calendar. Ukraine moved its state holiday to December 25 in 2023 while many parishes keep the January date liturgically, Finland's Orthodox minority has kept December 25 for a century, and several churches use the Revised Julian calendar where Christmas lands on December 25 after all.
How to use
- Pick the year in the planner above: the countdown re-aims at that January 7 and the table shows the full run of Eve, Day and Epiphany with weekdays.
- For cards and greetings, work from the weekday column: a January 7 that falls on a weekend (as in 2029) carries bigger family gatherings than a midweek one.
- If you are attending across traditions, check the specific church - parish practice in mixed-calendar countries like Ukraine and Bulgaria can differ from the state calendar.
Frequently asked questions
Why is Orthodox Christmas on January 7?
The Julian calendar, in use when the church fixed its feasts, runs 13 days behind the Gregorian calendar that civil life follows today. Churches that never switched keep December 25 on the Julian page, which lands on January 7 on a modern calendar. It is not a delayed Christmas - it is the same date, printed in two different calendars.
What day is Orthodox Christmas 2027?
Thursday, January 7, 2027 - with Christmas Eve on Wednesday, January 6 and Epiphany on Tuesday, January 19. The full 2026-2031 table above lists every year with weekdays; the countdown counter re-aims at any year you pick.
Do all Orthodox churches celebrate on January 7?
No - this is the most common misconception. Churches on the old Julian calendar (Russia, Serbia, Georgia, Bulgaria, Jerusalem, Mount Athos) keep January 7; churches on the Revised Julian calendar (including the Greek and Romanian churches) celebrate Christmas on December 25 while keeping the movable feasts like Easter shared with the rest of Orthodoxy; Ukraine's state calendar moved to December 25 in 2023, though many parishes keep the January liturgical date.
What is the Old New Year on January 14?
The Julian calendar's New Year's Day - January 1 Julian - lands on January 14 Gregorian, and in countries with a Julian heritage (Russia, Ukraine, Serbia, and others) it survives as a folk holiday, "Old New Year," a quieter second New Year's Eve for family dinners. It is the same 13-day gap wearing a party hat, and it needs no church attendance at all.