When does the holiday season start? For ages, there has been a classic dispute about the appropriate timeline of celebration for winter holidays, often focusing specifically on when Christmas celebrations should begin. 

Some argue that Christmas begins promptly following Halloween, while others argue it must begin only after Thanksgiving.

State High has a very diverse student population. There are many other holiday celebrations that occur during winter, and often celebrations of Hanukkah and Kwaanza result in being overlooked by the Christmas spirit. Students at State High have a lot to argue for when it comes to their own holiday celebrations. So, let’s dive deeper. 

Molly Dell, a freshman at State High, celebrates Christmas and argues for a very spirited two months of holiday celebration throughout November and December. “I think November 1 through November 23 is all dedicated to Christmas, then [there’s] Thanksgiving, then November 25 to Christmas, and even a little after that is all dedicated to Christmas,” she said. 

Freshman Lily Friberg also celebrates Christmas, but strongly disagrees with the opinion of her friend, Dell.

“I disagree because I believe that after Thanksgiving is the day that Christmas technically starts, and I [believe] that December 26 is the day Christmas ends,” she argued. “Then New Year’s starts and you just gotta get prepped between them, you can’t just have Christmas then go straight into New Year’s.”

Asher Collens, a junior, has a bit of a different story to tell. Collens celebrates Hanukkah rather than Christmas, so he views things a little differently. “I am Jewish and…what traditionally is done—the whole Christmas thing—that’s not really our schtick, it’s a little bit too new for us I guess you could say,” he said, “[Hanukkah] can be anywhere in Thanksgiving time in November to around kinda like a little bit more later December, but it’s like an eight-night holiday,” he explains. “[You] light a candle on each night, get presents on each night—although that’s kinda more of a new thing with the advent of Christmas, cause a lot of Jewish kids were like you know, we want presents too cause we saw like all of our friends getting presents and you know, we wanted that.”

While Collens doesn’t celebrate Christmas, he does have his own opinions on when its celebration should start. He feels that Christmas often takes over during the holidays, making it so that other holidays such as Hanukkah can be overlooked. 

“I believe for the celebration of the holiday Christmas—let’s say Christmas music—that is acceptable in very moderate quantities after, like December 1. I think that’s acceptable for like you know like singing Christmas songs and like playing Christmas music,” he explains. “In terms of lights, I feel like any time you know after December as well. I feel like the more you get closer to the holiday the more you should like get your stuff ready too, that’s just a very me opinion,” Collens explained.

“I definitely do feel like around the holidays especially like around like December, everything becomes Christmas-themed. You can’t go like to a store without Mariah Carey blasting into your eardrums and you know…that’s just always been a little bit annoying for me,” he evaluated.

Junior Isabella Gallo celebrates Christmas with her family. 

“We all get together for Christmas…my family is religious so even those of us that aren’t religious will end up going to the church service with them. We stay up really late, we play card games, we play Shanghai every year. Typically the children are the only sober people in that room, but it’s a lot of fun,” she laughed.

“I don’t [start celebrating before Thanksgiving], but I don’t fault people who do. You’re weird if you start before Halloween,” Gallo noted. “But like after Halloween…fair game. Personally, I wait until after Thanksgiving, that’s when the tree goes up.”

Additionally, Christmas is also celebrated by Senior Alice Gipe, someone who believes the fall season and traditions shouldn’t be forgotten. 

“I start celebrating for the holidays immediately after Thanksgiving, and I am very much against celebrating for the holidays prior to,” says Gipe. “Then you cut out all of the amazing fall-ness that still exists in the world and you forget about the pumpkin-flavored things.” She added, “Fall doesn’t end until December 22 so, therefore, I start celebrating and we get a tree like the second week of…[or] after the first week of December.” 

Autumn Banfield, a junior at State High, has opinions that align closely with Gipe’s.

“Some people start too early in my opinion. Like you know some people [start] before Halloween or like right after Halloween, I think that’s a bit extreme,” she said. “I think once you get to like [November], and now we’re sitting here and um, it’s snowing outside! It feels very Christmasy so, I know it’s not Thanksgiving yet, but I’m very excited.”

Junior Samuel Endres celebrates Christmas too, but has strong thoughts on fall festivities as well. “I’m one of the people who celebrate Christmas right after Thanksgiving, but I always find myself celebrating it leading up to Thanksgiving because I can’t help myself. I guess I just think that Thanksgiving shouldn’t be overlooked because I have all these Thanksgiving traditions. Like I do [a] Harry Potter marathon every year.”

The traditions and celebrations involved during the winter holidays are of great importance to many people. Despite the differing opinions on when the holiday season starts and the wide variety of celebrations, the winter brings many festivities and holiday spirit that we can all enjoy.