Christmas tree: is there a set date for setting up and taking down?

Oh, the Christmas! As the end of the year approaches, people's hearts are filled with the “Christmas spirit”, a peculiar feeling that is difficult to explain.

At Christmas, the birth of Jesus Christ is celebrated, one of the most traditional and important festivals Christians, remembered throughout the Western world and also in some Eastern countries on the 25th of December.

And to overflow this “taste of hope and joy” brought by Christmas, there has been a tradition for centuries of decorating houses, streets and squares with very peculiar Christmas decorations.

There are blinkers, garlands and nativity scenes of all sizes, snowmen, Santa Clauses and Christmas trees, which cannot be missed.

These commemorative trees are pine trees decorated with luminous ornaments, balls and other decorations. They can be any size and be natural or artificial.

And speaking of Christmas trees, it's worth remembering that some ancient customs indicate the right days to put them up and take them down. Do you know what those dates would be?

The right days to set up and take down the Christmas tree

(Image: disclosure)

Nowadays there are discussions between those who reject the modern tradition of celebrating Christmas and those who defend this way of celebrating the birth of Christ.

However, despite some Christmas decorations not actually being linked to the birth of the Son of God itself, they ended up gaining considerable representative strength culturally speaking.

In this sense, it came to be believed that the Christmas tree, in particular, must be assembled approximately four weeks before December 25th, the date on which Mary would have given birth to Jesus.

In 2023, this date would have fallen between the 3rd and 4th of December, as Sunday the 3rd is the first Sunday of Advent, a period that marks the beginning of a new liturgical cycle, according to tradition Catholic.

And the day of disassembly?

To find out the right day to take down the Christmas tree, you don't need to do the math on the calendar, as it is already marked there. It is January 6th, the famous Three Kings Day.

It was on that date that, according to early Christian tradition, the three wise men arrived at the inn where the newborn baby Jesus was resting with his parents, Joseph and Mary.

According to the Holy Bible, these three distinguished gentlemen were guided by a star and encouraged to bring gifts to the boy, indicated to them as the legitimate king of the Jews.

Despite everything, it is important to emphasize that the dates of Jesus' birth and the arrival of the kings are not known for certain. The Bible only reports the facts, without mentioning dates.

The current commemorative dates were agreed upon by ancient Christian communities, who considered these days precisely to schedule meetings to celebrate the birth of the Savior, which is totally lawful.

It is also worth noting that the days for assembling and dismantling the Christmas tree may change from country to country. In the United States, for example, the assembly takes place on Thanksgiving Day, a holiday generally celebrated on the last Thursday of November.

Graduated in History and Human Resources Technology. Passionate about writing, today he lives the dream of working professionally as a Web Content Writer, writing articles in several different niches and formats.