When and what is Twelfth Night?

Mummers: Twelfth Night
Mummers: Twelfth Night
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But what is it? Here’s the basics on Twelfth Night:

When is it?

Twelfth Night falls tonight (January 5th) - the night before the Twelfth Day of Christmas (Epiphany, when the Three Wise Men were said to arrive at the stable where Jesus was born).

Why is Twelfth Night not on January 6th?


So for them, Christmas Day started at sunset on December 24th (Christmas Eve) and would continue until nightfall on the 25th, which began the Feast of Stephen (Boxing Day, as we now call it, which was the actual First Day of Christmas).

If you follow it along, the Twelfth Night of Christmas was the night before January 6th.

So when should I take my decorations down?

Since Victorian times, the tradition has been to take decorations down on Twelfth Night. So technically, the answer is tonight (January 5th).

But most people now think of January 6th as being Twelfth Night. So unless you’re majorly superstitious, you can probably leave them until then.

It’s also worth remembering that, until Victorian times, our ancestors left their decorations up until Candlemas on February 2nd (having not put them up until Christmas Eve).

More here .... when should you take down your Christmnas decorations?

How is Twelfth Night celebrated?



Twelfth Cakes


It was also a time to eat spicy, gingery foods.






Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night


Yule Log


Is Twelfth Night still celebrated today?

Many places throughout the UK still mark the occasion, and celebrations take place in London’s Bankside each year - though often not falling on Twelfth Night itself, but rather the weekend closest to the date.