Winter Holidays
Let's dive into winter holidays: Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Lunar New Year, Bodhi Day, and Boxing Day. Here you'll learn about each holiday's history and significance today.
start
Christmas:
Thursday Dec. 25, 2025
Around 2.3 to 2.5 billion people globally celebrate Christmas, making it one of the world's most widely observed holidays, encompassing both religious Christians and many non-Christians who partake in its cultural traditions of giving, family, and festivities in over 160 countries.
Info
Hanukkah
Evening of Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025 – Monday, Dec. 22, 2025
Hanukkah is holiday celebrated in the U.S. and Israel, with estimates suggesting that around 7-8 million Jewish Americans, and millions more globally, observe it by lighting the menorah, playing dreidel, and eating latkes to commemorate the rededication of the Second Temple.
Info
Kwanzaa
Friday, Dec. 26, 2025 – Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026
Kwanzaa, a cultural holiday celebrating African American heritage, is observed by millions of people of African descent in communities worldwide, particularly in the United States, Canada, and the Caribbean.
Info
Lunar New Year
Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026
Around two billion people globally celebrate the Lunar New Year, making it one of the world's largest cultural festivals. It is observed across East and Southeast Asia, but also by communities worldwide, with celebrations lasting up to 15 days.
Info
Bodhi Day
Monday, Dec. 8, 2025
Millions of Buddhists, primarily in East and Southeast Asia and in Mahayana traditions globally, celebrate Bodhi Day (Buddha's Enlightenment) on different dates, most commonly December 8th (Japan/West) or the 12th lunar month (China, Korea, Vietnam), while some Southeast Asian countries (Thailand, Myanmar) include it in the May Vesak festival, making it a significant — though not universally unified — holiday for a large segment of the world's over 500 million Buddhists.
Info
Boxing Day
Friday, Dec. 26, 2025
Millions of people celebrate Boxing Day globally, primarily in the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. This marks it as a public holiday for shopping, sports, and charity. Boxing Day originated as a day for the wealthy to give gifts (Christmas boxes) to servants and the poor. Today, it's a major shopping holiday with huge sales (like Black Friday in the U.S.) and a day for sports, festivities, and enjoying leftover Christmas food, also known as St. Stephen's Day.
Info
Photos courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
The Muse hopes you have a great holiday season, whichever holiday you celebrate or don't!
Christmas's History:
Christmas began as a Christian commemoration of Jesus' birth, officially set on Dec. 25th by the 4th-century Roman church, which featured feasting and gift-giving, traditions later merged into the holiday of Christmas.
Lunar New Year's History
Lunar New Year originates in China, and it's over 3,500 years to the Shang Dynasty, when it was a time for paying respects to ancestors and gods. Early celebrations were tied to the harvest and praying for a good year ahead. Over centuries, traditions evolved, and today, it is a major festival celebrated by many East and Southeast Asian cultures, based on a lunisolar calendar, which is why the date changes each year.
Boxing Day's History
Boxing Day, celebrated on December 26th originated in Britain as a day for the wealthy to give "Christmas boxes" of gifts, leftovers, and money to servants and the poor, recognizing their work on Christmas Day. The name comes from these boxes, symbolizing charity and goodwill, evolving from Victorian customs to modern traditions like sales and sports.
Hanukkah's History:
Hanukkah's history centers on the 2nd century BCE Maccabean Revolt, when Jewish rebels (the Maccabees) fought Syrian-Greeks to rededicate the Temple in Jerusalem, which the Greeks had desecrated. The eight-day celebration commemorates the victory and the miracle of the Temple's Menorah burning for eight days with only one day's worth of oil, symbolizing light over darkness and Jewish perseverance.
Bodhi Day's History
Bodhi Day celebrates the day Siddhartha Gautama attained enlightenment (Bodhi) under a Bodhi tree, becoming the Buddha. This was a significant moment in Buddhist history, typically celebrated by Mahayana Buddhists on Dec. 8 or the 8th day of the 12th lunar month. Traditions include meditation, candle lighting, and sharing rice porridge as a symbol of spiritual awakening and compassion, though dates vary by region.
Kwanzaa's History:
Kwanzaa was established in 1966 by Dr. Maulana Karenga. The holiday emerged after the Watts Rebellion, to help unify the Black community and celebrate African heritage. The holiday's name comes from the Swahili phrase "matunda ya kwanza," meaning "first fruits," and it is based on traditional African harvest festivals.
Winter Holidays
Natalie Vidal
Created on December 8, 2025
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Transcript
Winter Holidays
Let's dive into winter holidays: Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Lunar New Year, Bodhi Day, and Boxing Day. Here you'll learn about each holiday's history and significance today.
start
Christmas:
Thursday Dec. 25, 2025
Around 2.3 to 2.5 billion people globally celebrate Christmas, making it one of the world's most widely observed holidays, encompassing both religious Christians and many non-Christians who partake in its cultural traditions of giving, family, and festivities in over 160 countries.
Info
Hanukkah
Evening of Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025 – Monday, Dec. 22, 2025
Hanukkah is holiday celebrated in the U.S. and Israel, with estimates suggesting that around 7-8 million Jewish Americans, and millions more globally, observe it by lighting the menorah, playing dreidel, and eating latkes to commemorate the rededication of the Second Temple.
Info
Kwanzaa
Friday, Dec. 26, 2025 – Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026
Kwanzaa, a cultural holiday celebrating African American heritage, is observed by millions of people of African descent in communities worldwide, particularly in the United States, Canada, and the Caribbean.
Info
Lunar New Year
Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026
Around two billion people globally celebrate the Lunar New Year, making it one of the world's largest cultural festivals. It is observed across East and Southeast Asia, but also by communities worldwide, with celebrations lasting up to 15 days.
Info
Bodhi Day
Monday, Dec. 8, 2025
Millions of Buddhists, primarily in East and Southeast Asia and in Mahayana traditions globally, celebrate Bodhi Day (Buddha's Enlightenment) on different dates, most commonly December 8th (Japan/West) or the 12th lunar month (China, Korea, Vietnam), while some Southeast Asian countries (Thailand, Myanmar) include it in the May Vesak festival, making it a significant — though not universally unified — holiday for a large segment of the world's over 500 million Buddhists.
Info
Boxing Day
Friday, Dec. 26, 2025
Millions of people celebrate Boxing Day globally, primarily in the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. This marks it as a public holiday for shopping, sports, and charity. Boxing Day originated as a day for the wealthy to give gifts (Christmas boxes) to servants and the poor. Today, it's a major shopping holiday with huge sales (like Black Friday in the U.S.) and a day for sports, festivities, and enjoying leftover Christmas food, also known as St. Stephen's Day.
Info
Photos courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
The Muse hopes you have a great holiday season, whichever holiday you celebrate or don't!
Christmas's History:
Christmas began as a Christian commemoration of Jesus' birth, officially set on Dec. 25th by the 4th-century Roman church, which featured feasting and gift-giving, traditions later merged into the holiday of Christmas.
Lunar New Year's History
Lunar New Year originates in China, and it's over 3,500 years to the Shang Dynasty, when it was a time for paying respects to ancestors and gods. Early celebrations were tied to the harvest and praying for a good year ahead. Over centuries, traditions evolved, and today, it is a major festival celebrated by many East and Southeast Asian cultures, based on a lunisolar calendar, which is why the date changes each year.
Boxing Day's History
Boxing Day, celebrated on December 26th originated in Britain as a day for the wealthy to give "Christmas boxes" of gifts, leftovers, and money to servants and the poor, recognizing their work on Christmas Day. The name comes from these boxes, symbolizing charity and goodwill, evolving from Victorian customs to modern traditions like sales and sports.
Hanukkah's History:
Hanukkah's history centers on the 2nd century BCE Maccabean Revolt, when Jewish rebels (the Maccabees) fought Syrian-Greeks to rededicate the Temple in Jerusalem, which the Greeks had desecrated. The eight-day celebration commemorates the victory and the miracle of the Temple's Menorah burning for eight days with only one day's worth of oil, symbolizing light over darkness and Jewish perseverance.
Bodhi Day's History
Bodhi Day celebrates the day Siddhartha Gautama attained enlightenment (Bodhi) under a Bodhi tree, becoming the Buddha. This was a significant moment in Buddhist history, typically celebrated by Mahayana Buddhists on Dec. 8 or the 8th day of the 12th lunar month. Traditions include meditation, candle lighting, and sharing rice porridge as a symbol of spiritual awakening and compassion, though dates vary by region.
Kwanzaa's History:
Kwanzaa was established in 1966 by Dr. Maulana Karenga. The holiday emerged after the Watts Rebellion, to help unify the Black community and celebrate African heritage. The holiday's name comes from the Swahili phrase "matunda ya kwanza," meaning "first fruits," and it is based on traditional African harvest festivals.