To want to take down Christmas decorations on 31stDec

[ThatCyanJoker]

We’ve had tree and Christmas decorations up since early December. I’m so ready to take them down now and get the house back to normal, but DH says it’s way too early and how could I think that was usual. Out of interest, do you keep your tree etc until 6 January?

I'm in Spain. NYE is huge, we were out until 3am with DC! Then the night of 5th the kings arrive with a big parade, throwing sweets to the kids. Then it's family dinner at home with the gifts. 6th is a national holiday, 7th an extra day off for kids, then back to school on 8th. So we're still in holiday mode.
People are still cheerful, the artisan market is still going. It's lovely.
Our tree went up 8th December, it'll come down on 6th January. In our case it'd be weird to take it down earlier.

@elQuintoConyo I think if it was like that here then most people would leave their trees up but the majority of workers in England will be back at work tomorrow

I'd argue you have a point. But it's all very much back to thr grind after last night here

Left to my own devices I would take them down on Boxing Day, unless I put them up much later, like the last weekend before Christmas. DH often argues for keeping them up until last thing on Twelfth Night but is sensible enough to realise that there's more time to take them down on a weekend day, so he's suggesting this weekend (the 4th or 5th) and I'll happily go along with that.

I've just moved my curtains and had a glance out of the window. Pitch black. Last night all of my neighbours still had their large displays of outdoor lights up
So I guess New Years day is a popular day for taking everything down.

Ours are staying up until the 5th and this is due to work commitments etc.

Plenty of outdoor lights still on in my road. I still have my tree up and switched on. It’s been a particularly miserable,dark, wet day here and the tree lights are very cheering.

Our village has one of those streets which gets on the news every year because the entire street goes massively overboard with coordinated mights. People travel really far to see it.

They are always quite rightly still there until Twelfth Night. No question of them taking it down early.

From my lounge I can see the three houses that had outside lights all still have them up.

Why “quite rightly”? It doesn’t matter when they get taken down - keep them up til March! But if people want to take them down that’s their choice too. The 6th Jan is an arbitrary meaningless date for most people.

Because that means they are keeping them up until the official end of the 12 days of Christmas. You don't have to agree with it, you don't have to do it. But you're never going to convince me that Epiphany isn't a significant date and that it's right and respectful that public decorations, like council ones etc are kept to that correct date.

Also because I think it's hilarious how wound up people get by being told it's the correct date.

The 6th Jan is an arbitrary meaningless date for most people.

Exactly. We're not in Spain, we don't celebrate the Reyes Magos bringing gifts on their camels, we don't have 12 days off work from 25th December - 6th January, people in England/Wales are generally back 2nd Jan, 3rd in Scotland. Nobody is having feasts and Christmas parties on 3/4/5 January.

I have no objection to people keeping up their lights or decorations until 6th Jan (or 6th April or October) it's their house and their choice. I do object though to the idea that there is a right and wrong way to manage things.

Merry Christmas

Epiphany is only relevant if you believe in it as a significant date. Christmas has been over for a week now.

Epiphany is irrelevant to me , I’m an atheist .

Super tacky to take them down before twelfth night but that said its probably the same people that have had them up since Halloween.

I do kind of see the dichotomy of the "but but Epiphany!!" people - they see Christmas as a religious festival and that if you are going to do the tree/celebration/feast then you can't pick and choose the bits that suit you, so to them, the idea of taking down the decs before the Three Kings have shown up is just unthinkable.

They don't seem to realise that a huge proportion of people who "celebrate Christmas" don't see it as a religious festival at all. Yes in name it's about the birth of Jesus but they don't go to church and don't believe in God/Jesus. Many aspects of Christmas stem from much older celebrations, we have always marked the passing of the darkest time of year. So we're having solstice celebrations with parties and presents and feasting and calling it "Christmas". And the religious people can't get their heads around that.

Maybe next year I'll start calling it Yule. Yule presents, a Yule tree, Yule decorations. Then the "but bu BUT EPIPHANY!!!!" lot won't get their knickers in a knot.

But it is the official end of Christmas. So anything official, e.g. council run public decorations should stick to that.

And round we go in circles… it’s only the “officiall” end to the festive season if you buy into the religious aspect, which most people don’t,

There is no official end to Christmas. Why do you think there is?

Because it is primarily a religious festival. Whether you choose to observe that or not is entirely up to you. But as we don't live in an officially secular country then it is appropriate that the full length of the religious festival is observed by public bodies.

I don't know why people tie themselves in knots to deny that. It is funny.

It literally is not primarily a religious festival. Only a very small percentage go to church or do anything at all that makes it religious.
It's overwhelmingly a non religious festival, and it's not at all appropriate for public bodies to follow one specific religion that has no relevance to the vast majority of the country.

That's funny. You want to campaign for the disestablishment of the CofE ny all means go ahead. Until that happens we remain a country that has the head of the church as the head of state and a national religion with daily acts of worship compulsory in schools.

It might not be a religious festival as celebrated by most of the population but it remains officially so and in origin.

I don't understand why that annoys people so much.

Oh sweetie, noone needs to campaign for that, it's disappearing all by itself. It's entirely irrelevant.

Christmas is about Santa, not jesus, and hardly anyone gives two shits about your religious notions. Btw, yeh actual origins of Xmas, not to mention most of the traditions and rituals have nothing at all to do.with the church of England. Or any church.

Daily practice and legality are not the same thing.

Ours go up the first weekend in December and down the first weekend in January after New Year.

Personally those that I know who take them down before New Year are miserable characters generally, including one family member who has them down by lunchtime on Boxing Day. It is still the festive season until after New Year