In the past few years, some Protestant groups have tried to argue against referring to the Christmas season as “The Holidays” because they feel that it takes away from the Holy status of Christmas and of Christ. What they fail to understand is that “The Holidays” does not mean Christmas exclusively. There are, in fact, quite a few holy days during this time, not all of them Christian.

Here is my list of holidays and important occasions for the 2020 Holiday Season. It includes events that happen between Advent Sunday, (the beginning of the traditional lead up to Christmas), through Christmas Season, (the twelve days beginning Christmas Day and ending on January 5th or “Twelfth Night”). But not counting Epiphany, (the season which follows Christmas.)

- November 29th – Advent Sunday, Kartika Chaumasi Chaudas (Jainist)
- November 30th – Kartik Poornima (Hindu), Guru Nanak Jayanti (Sikh), Kartik Rath Yatra (Jainist), Full Moon
- December 1st - Rosa Parks Day (arrest), World AIDS Day
- December 2nd - Women's Brain Health Day, National Mutt Day (USA)
- December 3rd - Mauder’s Day (Dudeism), International Day of Persons with Disabilities (UN)
- December 4th - Eid il-Burbara (Islam), The Slackernalia (Dudeism), International Cheetah Day
- December 5th - Krampusnacht (Austrian Trad.), Day of the Ninja, St. Sabas (Christian)
- December 6th - National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women, Saint Nicholas Day
- December 7th - St. Ambrose (Christian)
- December 8th - Feast of the Immaculate Conception (Christian), Bodhi Day (Buddhist), Afflux (Discordian)
- December 9th - Anna’s Day
- December 10th (sunset) – Chanukah (Jewish, to 18th)
- December 10th - Mahavir Swami Deeksha (Jainist), Human Rights Day
- December 11th - Anniversary of the Statute of Westminster
- December 12th - Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe (Hispanic Catholic)
- December 13th - Acadians Remembrance Day, Kerabotsmas (Dudeism)
- December 14th - Monkey Day
- December 15th - Dhanu Sankranti (Hindu), Zamenhof Day (Esperanto), International Tea Day
- December 18th - International Migrants Day
- December 21st – Winter Solstice, First Day of Winter, Yalda (Zoroastrianism), Yule (Pagan) Yule (Christian), Blue Christmas (Christian), The Winter Slowstice (Dudeism), Global Orgasm for World Peace
- December 23rd – Festivus (Seinfeld), Humanlight (Secular Humanism), Christmas Adam (silly)
- December 24th – Nittel Nacht (Jewish), Christmas Eve (Christian)
- December 24th (sunset) - Asara B'Tevet (Jewish)
- December 25th – Christmas Day (Christian), Feast of the Nativity (Orth Christian), Geeta Jayanti (Hindu), Mauni Ekadashi (Jainist), Newtonmas (Atheism), Prime Minister’s Birthday (1971)
- December 26th – Boxing Day (unknown), Feast of St Steven, Wren Day, National Whiners Day, Beginning of Kwanzaa (to January 1st)
- December 27th - Saint John Apostle and Evangelist (Christian), Holy Family (Catholic)
- December 28th - Holy Innocents (Christian)
- December 29th – Full Moon
- December 31st - New Year’s Eve, Watchnight (Christian), Pope St. Sylvester (Christian)
- January 1st – New Year’s Day, Baptism of the Lord Jesus (Christian), The Solemnity of Mary Mother of God (Catholic), Feast of the Holy Name of Jesus (Orth Christian), Feast Day of St Basil the Great (Orth Christian), Gantan-sai (Shinto), Public Domain Day, Z Day
- January 2nd - Guru Gobindh Singh’s birthday (Sikh), Day After New Year’s Day (PQ)
- January 3rd - Feast of the Holy Name of Jesus (Some Catholics), J.R.R. Tolkein’s Birthday (1892)
- January 4th - World Braille Day
- January 5th - Twelfth Night (trad.), Mungday (Discordian), Hayao Miyazaki’s Birthday
- January 6th - Epiphany (Christian), Dia de los Reyes (Hispanic Catholic), Carnival Season (Catholic, Greece), Feast of the Theophany (Orthodox Christian)

TOTAL HOLIDAYS and OCCASIONS = 83 (does not include January 6th)

Religious = 45

Christian = 21

On December 25th = 6

And that’s why we call it “The Holidays.”