Is it a day off?
Government offices close; private workplaces usually stay open.
In 2028 it falls on a Sunday, a weekend day; check whether a substitute day is given.
Fixed date: it is on the same day of the year every year (Dec 24).
Saturday and Sunday · A public holiday does not always close every business. Essential services, shops and some industries keep working, and pay rules differ by country and contract.
Christmas Eve
Christmas Eve is the day and evening before Christmas. In much of Central, Eastern and Northern Europe it is the main event of the season rather than a prelude, with the family dinner, gift exchange and often a church service all taking place on the night of 24 December. Well-known examples include Wigilia in Poland, Štědrý den in the Czech Republic, Štedrý deň in Slovakia, Kūčios in Lithuania and the Christmas Eve celebrations of Finland and Estonia, where a Christmas figure visits children that evening. It is often the day when families gather, travel home and prepare the festive table, so it is one of the busiest travel days of the year in countries that observe it.
The religious background lies in the old way of counting a liturgical day from sunset, inherited from Jewish practice, so that a feast begins on the evening before. In many traditions the evening meal is meatless. In Poland the Wigilia supper begins when the first star appears, opens with the sharing of a thin wafer called opłatek, and often includes a place left empty at the table; carp is a common main dish, and some families serve twelve dishes. Public holiday status, where it exists, usually applies to the whole day, although some employers and shops allow work only until the afternoon.
Christmas Eve: all countries