Christmas 2026 and New Year's 2027 Both Fall on Friday

Christmas Day 2026 falls on Friday, December 25, and New Year’s Day 2027 falls on Friday, January 1. For many U.S. families that creates two three-day weekends separated by a four-day work week, which makes early planning for travel, games, and shared itineraries useful. This article sets out the dates that appear in public calendar references, notes where to confirm federal observance, and offers practical ways to use the long weekends.

December 25 and the December calendar

December is the twelfth and final month of the Gregorian calendar and has 31 days. The name comes from the Latin decem, meaning ten, because December was originally the tenth month in the Roman calendar before January and February were added. The December 2026 printable calendar template from wiki-calendar lists Christmas Day on Friday, December 25, 2026. The month also includes the winter solstice in the Northern Hemisphere, typically around December 21, and the Geminid meteor shower around December 13–14. December’s traditional birthstones are turquoise, zircon and tanzanite, and its birth flower includes the narcissus and holly.

New Year’s Day on a Friday

January is the first month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars and has 31 days. The first day of the month is New Year’s Day. January is named after Janus, the Roman god of beginnings and transitions. In the Northern Hemisphere it is on average the coldest month of the year, while in the Southern Hemisphere it is one of the warmest. The standard calendar places January 1, 2027, on a Friday, matching the pattern stated in the angle, but the public sources used here do not include a formal U.S. Office of Personnel Management table for federal observance. OPM is the authority to confirm whether the holiday is observed on Friday, January 1, 2027, or on an alternative date for federal employees.

Confirming federal observance and travel timing

Before you book leave or flights, confirm the official observance dates with the U.S. Office of Personnel Management. The December and January calendar references identify Christmas Day as Friday, December 25, 2026, and New Year’s Day as January 1, but they do not show whether the federal holiday for New Year’s is moved or observed on that Friday. The sources used here also do not record the last time Christmas and New Year’s Day both fell on a Friday; that detail would be found in a historical federal holiday calendar. AAA’s public membership pages describe travel planning tools, roadside assistance, and discounts, but no specific early holiday travel forecast for 2026–2027 is included in the material accessed for this article. When AAA publishes a forecast, that would be the place to check expected travel volume.

A New Zealand summer beach alternative

Because December is the first month of summer in the Southern Hemisphere and January is the warmest month in much of that hemisphere, a beach option works for the holiday period. Whangamata, on the Coromandel Peninsula of New Zealand, is a surf town with a 4-kilometre beach, the Whanga Bar break, Donut Island and Wentworth Falls. If you are considering that region, check the weather and tides for Whangamata before you go.

Game-night planning with a printed score sheet

The back-to-back long weekends leave room for a family game night. Farkle is a dice game that needs a clear record of banked turn points and running totals; a free printable Farkle score sheet in US Letter or A4 keeps four players organised over 20 rounds. Download it before the holiday week so the table is ready.

Sharing the plan in a group chat

Once the dates, travel and game night are set, a group chat is often the fastest way to share the plan. An emoji directory lets you search by mood or symbol and copy a combination that summarises the weekend without a long message. Use it to mark the beach, the dice, or the family dinner.

Practical planning for the long weekends

Mark both Fridays on your calendar, confirm federal leave with OPM, and decide whether you are staying home or heading somewhere warm. For the home option, print the score sheet and settle on a meal plan. For a shared itinerary, keep the emoji update short. The calendar gives you a clear frame: two Fridays, two long weekends, and a four-day week between them.