Christmas season
The Christmas season is a phrase that covers the time when two interconnected periods of celebration are held.
In many countries, Christmas season refers to the period of the year approaching Christmas when businesses (particularly those who sell and manufacture things that could be given as gifts) prepare for the massive buying rush that the holiday generates. Although there is no official beginning to the Christmas season, some people consider this period to last between the day after Thanksgiving (Black Friday) and the Sunday after New Year's Day. In some countries it is marked by annual Christmas parades and the arrival of Santa Claus such as at the end of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in the U.S. The day after Thanksgiving, retailers generally have sales and special events encouraging people to start buying their gifts. Others simply consider it the month of December.
In North America, the Christmas season is also punctuated by continued screenings of theme-based movies (such as It's a Wonderful Life and Miracle on 34th Street) and television specials (such as Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and A Charlie Brown Christmas). The season continues through the New Year's weekend, with its college football bowl games and more parades.
Christmas season is also known as Christmastide, one of six seasons of the year in the liturgical year of some Christian churches; namely, the period which runs from Christmas Day to January 6, the start of the octave of Epiphany. This period is also commonly known as the Twelve days of Christmas, as referred to in the Christmas carol "Twelve Days of Christmas" or Yuletide as in "Deck the Halls". During the season various festivities are traditionally enjoyed and buildings decorated. In some countries, by superstition it is bad luck to leave the decorations up after Twelfth Night.
In the Roman Catholic Church, the Christmas season begins at the Christmas Vigil Mass and runs until the feast of the Baptism of Our Lord, which falls on the Sunday after Epiphany (and on Jan. 13 in the pre-Vatican II calendar).
This guide is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia.
Video: Disneyland Resort Paris Christmas Season
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