If you are one of those people who insists on keeping their Christmas tree up until Valentine’s Day, I have some bad news for you: today is the official cutoff.
Happy National Take Down the Christmas Tree Day. When do you take your Christmas tree down?🌲 #christmastree #nationaltakedownthechristmastreeday pic.twitter.com/xNNAaFCwOT
— Allyson Anthony (@AllysInsprdLife) January 6, 2026
January 6th isn’t just a random Tuesday; it’s “National Take Down the Christmas Tree Day,” and it also coincides with the Feast of the Epiphany (or Three Kings Day). According to tradition, this marks the official end of the 12 Days of Christmas, meaning the festive season is technically, legally, and spiritually over.
There is actually a surprisingly creepy reason to get moving, too. Old folklore suggests that leaving your decorations up past the Twelfth Night (that’s today kids!) invites bad luck for the rest of the year. Some superstitions even claim that tree spirits live in the holly and greenery, and if you don’t release them outside by today, you’re in for a rough harvest—or in modern terms, a really annoying 2026.
I know taking the tree down is the worst part of the holidays. Wrestling the tree into a box or dragging the symbolic remains of your last Christmas through the living room is nobody’s idea of fun. But unless you want to be “that house” with the Santa lights still blinking in February — or risk hexing your entire year — it’s time to rip off the Band-Aid. Grab a trash bag, put on a non-Christmas playlist, and get it done!
