
The Twelve Days of Christmas are the festive days beginning Christmas Day (25 December). This period is also known as Christmastide and Twelvetide. The Twelfth Night of Christmas is always on the evening of 5 January, but the Twelfth Day can either precede or follow the Twelfth Night according to which Christian tradition is followed. Twelfth Night is followed by the Feast of the Epiphany on 6 January. In some traditions, the first day of Epiphany (6 January) and the twelfth day of Christmas overlap. Over the centuries, differing Christian denominations have had different customs, time frames and interpretations. St. Stephen's Day, for example, is 26 December in the Western Church and 27 December in the Eastern Church. 28 December is Childermas or the Feast of the Innocents. 26 December is also known as Boxing Day but this is not associated with St Stephen and Boxing Day does not move to the 27th in the Eastern Church. Currently, the twelve days and nights are celebrated in widely varying ways around the world. Some give gifts only on Christmas Day, some only on Twelfth Night, and some each of the twelve nights.