The January sales period starts on December 27 and can last up to 60 days. In Germany, the Winterschlussverkauf winter sale before the season ends was one of two official sales periods the other being the Sommerschlussverkauf , the summer sales.

It begins on the last Monday in January and lasts for 12 days, selling left-over goods from the holiday shopping season, as well as the winter collections.

However, unofficially, goods are sold at reduced prices by many stores throughout the whole of January. By the time the sales officially begin the only goods left on sale are low-quality ones, often specially manufactured for the sales.

However, voluntary sales still called "Winterschlussverkauf" take place further on in most stores at the same time every year.

In Sweden, where the week of the first Advent Sunday marks the official start of the Christmas and holiday season, continuing with Saint Lucy's Day on December 13, followed up by Christmas before the Mellandagsrea between days sell off traditionally begins on December 27 nowadays often December 26 or even December 25 and lasts during the rest of the Christmas holiday.

It is similar to Black Friday , but lasts longer. They last 34—35 days. Black Friday itself has also gained publicity in Sweden since the earlys.

The Swedish Christmas and holiday season continues over Epiphany , and finally ends on St. Knut's Day when the children have a Knut's party.

In Bosnia Republika Srpska , Montenegro and Serbia, holiday sales starts in the middle of December and last for at least one month.

Hong Kong has a lot of seasonal activities and traditions to offer around Christmas time. December 25 and 26 are Public Holidays that makes most shops open for shopping.

Locals and tourists love to watch the meter Swarovski Christmas tree in the Central as well as the Christmas light displays on buildings on Victoria Harbour.

The Philippines has the longest Christmas season , reportedly. All over the entire country, parols star shaped lanterns are hung everywhere and lights are lit.

Simbang Gabi or dawn masses start December 16 and run for nine days up until Christmas Eve. According to the Washington Post , "Koreans prefer cash Christmas gifts over more creative presents.

Singapore widely celebrates Christmas which is a Public Holiday in this country. For six weeks, mid-November to early January, the 2.

A selection of goodwill greetings are often used around the world to address strangers, family, colleagues or friends during the season.

Some greetings are more prevalent than others, depending on culture and location. In the mid-to-late 20th century in the United States, more generic greetings such as "Happy Holidays" and "Season's Greetings" began to rise in cultural prominence, and this would later spread to other Western countries including Canada, Australia and to a lesser extent some European countries.

A poll by Rasmussen Reports indicated that 68 percent of Americans prefer the use of "Merry Christmas", while 23 percent preferred "Happy Holidays".

The greetings and farewells "merry Christmas" and "happy Christmas" are traditionally used in English-speaking countries, starting a few weeks before December 25 each year.

These greetings and their equivalents in other languages are popular not only in countries with large Christian populations, but also in the largely non-Christian nations of China and Japan, where Christmas is celebrated primarily due to cultural influences of predominantly Christian countries.

They have somewhat decreased in popularity in the United States and Canada in recent decades, but polls in indicated that they remained more popular than "happy holidays" or other alternatives.

The same phrase is contained in the title of the English carol " We Wish You a Merry Christmas ," and also appears in the first commercial Christmas card , produced by Henry Cole in England in The word "merry" was then beginning to take on its current meaning of "jovial, cheerful, jolly and outgoing.

The cynical Ebenezer Scrooge rudely deflects the friendly greeting: "If I could work my will … every idiot who goes about with 'merry Christmas' on his lips should be boiled with his own pudding.

A merry Christmas to everybody! The alternative "happy Christmas" gained usage in the late 19th century, and in the UK and Ireland is a common spoken greeting, along with "merry Christmas.

One year included both greetings, [72] and "blessed Christmas" was used in and Nicholas " , the final line, originally written as "Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good night", has been changed in many later editions to "Merry Christmas to all," perhaps indicating the relative popularity of the phrases in the US.

In the United States, "happy holidays" along with the similarly generalized "season's greetings" has become a common holiday greeting in the public sphere of department stores, public schools and greeting cards.

The increasing usage of "happy holidays" has been the subject of some controversy in the United States.

Advocates claim that "happy holidays" is an inclusive greeting that is not intended as an attack on Christianity or other religions, but is rather a response to what they say is the reality of a growing non-Christian population.

Opponents of "happy holidays" generally claim it is a secular neologism. The greeting has been variously characterized as materialistic , consumerist , atheistic , indifferentist , agnostic , politically correct , anti-Christian , or even as a covert form of Christian cultural imperialism.

Barry W. Lynn, the executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State , has stated the uproar is based on "stories that only sometimes even contain a grain of truth and often are completely false.

In addition to "Merry Christmas", Victorian Christmas cards bore a variety of salutations, including "compliments of the season" and "Christmas greetings.

By the s it had been shortened to "season's greetings," [77] and has been a greeting card fixture ever since. Several White House Christmas cards, including U.

President Dwight D. Eisenhower 's card, have featured the phrase. Various studies have been performed on the effects of the Christmas and holiday season, which encompasses several feast days , on health.

They have concluded that the health changes that occur during the Christmas and holiday season are not reversed during the rest of the year and have a long-term cumulative effect over a person's life, and that the risks of several medical problems increase during the Christmas and holiday season.

Yanovski et al. They found that average weight gain over the Christmas and holiday season is around 0. They also found that this weight gain is not reversed over the rest of the year, and concluded that this "probably contributes to the increase in body weight that frequently occurs during adulthood" cf Lent.

Research indicates that adults who weigh themselves daily with access to their weight graph tended to avoid holiday weight gain; [79] [80] however, self-weighing tends to decrease during the holiday season.

Chan et al. They concluded that the winter holidays did influence the glycemic control of the patients, with the largest increases being during that period, increases that "might not be reversed during the summer and autumn months".

The Christmas and holiday season, according to a survey by the ADA, is the second most popular reason, after birthdays, for sharing food in the workplace.

The British Columbia Safety Council states that if proper food safety procedures are not followed, food set out for sharing in the workplace can serve as a breeding ground for bacteria, and recommends that perishable foods for which it gives pizza, cold cuts, dips, salads, and sandwiches as examples should not sit out for more than 2 hours.

A survey conducted in found shopping caused headaches in nearly a quarter of people and sleeplessness in 11 percent. Phillips et al. They concluded that the Christmas and holiday season is "a risk factor for cardiac and noncardiac mortality", stating that there are "multiple explanations for this association, including the possibility that holiday-induced delays in seeking treatment play a role in producing the twin holiday spikes".

The Asthma Society of Canada [86] states that the Christmas and holiday season increases exposure to irritants because people spend 90 percent of their time indoors, and that seasonal decorations in the home introduce additional, further, irritants beyond the ones that exist all year around.

It recommends that asthmatics avoid scented candles, for example, recommending either that candles not be lit or that soy or beeswax candles be employed.

According to the Stanford Recycling Center [87] Americans throw away 25 percent more trash during the Christmas and holiday season than at other times of the year.

Because of the cold weather in the Northern Hemisphere, the Christmas and holiday season as well as the second half of winter is a time of increased use of fuel for domestic heating.

This has prompted concerns in the United Kingdom about the possibility of a shortage in the domestic gas supply.

However, in the event of an exceptionally long cold season, it is industrial users, signed on to interruptible supply contracts, who would find themselves without gas supply.

Fire Administration [27] states that the Christmas and holiday season is "a time of elevated risk for winter heating fires" and that the fact that many people celebrate the different holidays during the Christmas and holiday season by decorating their homes with seasonal garlands, electric lights, candles, and banners, has the potential to change the profile of fire incidence and cause.

The Government of Alberta Ministry of Municipal Affairs [89] states that candle-related fires rise by percent during the Christmas and holiday season, with most fires involving human error and most deaths and injuries resulting from the failure to extinguish candles before going to bed.

It states that consumers don't expect candle holders to tip over or to catch fire, assuming that they are safe, but that in fact candle holders can do this.

Because of increased alcohol consumption at festivities and poorer road conditions during the winter months, alcohol-related road traffic accidents increase over the Christmas and holiday season.

In the United States, the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States has had significant legal impact upon the activities of governments and of state-funded public schools during and relating to the Christmas and holiday season, and has been the source of controversy.

Public schools are subject to what the Anti-Defamation League terms the "December dilemma", [91] namely the task of "acknowledging the various religious and secular holiday traditions celebrated during that time of year" whilst restricting observances of the various religious festivals to what is constitutionally permissible.

The ADL and many school district authorities have published guidelines for schools and for teachers.

Banks, post offices and public institutions were to do the same from December 15, with violators liable for fines of up to rubles.

Every business was ordered to have illuminated windows during the hours of until This caused a mixed reaction, with people objecting to being forced to put up decorations.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. For other uses, see Christmas season disambiguation. For other uses, see Merry Christmas disambiguation.

Period covering Christmas and other holidays. Christmas tree in Japan. Christmas is celebrated by an increasing number of non-Christians around the world.

Traditionally, people would come together to give thanks for a good harvest and today, people still enjoy a big meal with their family and community.

The main part of the meal is usually turkey, accompanied by dishes made from seasonal vegetables such as pumpkin. Hanukah also called the Festival of Lights is an important Jewish holiday that lasts for eight days and nights.

The exact start date changes each year, but it always falls in November or December. Hanukah is all about the moment that the Jewish fighters took back the Holy Temple in Jerusalem and were able to practise their religion again.

Today, Jews all over the world celebrate the festival by lighting candles in a traditional eight-branch candle holder called a Menorah, eat oily foods like doughnuts and spend time with their families and communities.

It would help if closures could be staggered over a reasonably extended holiday season. Clause 4 will correct this anomaly by moving the starting date of the levy periods further away from the end of the holiday season.

It is anticipated that by the end of the holiday season no more extra duty will be necessary. The holiday season , as it is at present, comes to those fishermen somewhat as a five-course meal would come to a starving man.

In the holiday season , or whatever clearly is seasonal in practice. What is the pronunciation of the holiday season? Browse the high seas.

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