Upcoming Events
Countdowns to the holidays, festivals and observances the world is waiting for.
All events
Live countdowns to the holidays, festivals and observances people are waiting for around the world.
What these countdowns actually do
Every event listed here carries a live countdown and its own page explaining what the occasion is, when it falls, and how the date is represented. Fixed and rule-based events can roll forward automatically; one-off events stop at their announced date, while lunar or authority-dependent dates remain estimates until they are confirmed.
Why some dates move around and others never do
Every date on this site falls into one of a small number of families, and knowing which one explains why it behaves the way it does.
- Fixed dates — Christmas, New Year, most national days. The calendar date never changes; only the day of the week does, year to year.
- Weekday rules — US Thanksgiving falls on the fourth Thursday of November, Memorial Day on the last Monday of May. The date moves within a defined, predictable window.
- Easter-linked dates — Good Friday, Ash Wednesday and related observances are counted backward or forward from Easter Sunday. Western Easter is calculated from ecclesiastical calendar rules tied to the March equinox and an ecclesiastical full moon, rather than from a live observation of the astronomical full moon.
- The Islamic calendar — Ramadan, both Eids, Ashura and Milad un Nabi all land roughly eleven days earlier each Gregorian year, simply because the lunar year itself runs shorter.
- Lunisolar calendars — Diwali, Holi, Chinese New Year and the Jewish festivals sit on calendars that periodically insert a leap month, so their Gregorian dates drift for a few years and then jump back.
Questions people ask
Are every one of the dates listed here fully confirmed?
Fixed and rule-based dates are exact. Anything that depends on an actual moon sighting — the Islamic dates in particular — is a calculated estimate, and may end up a day off from the official announcement in your own country.
What happens the moment a countdown reaches zero?
The event rolls forward to its next occurrence entirely on its own, and the year shown in its title updates right along with it.
Why does Easter fall on a different date every single year?
It’s defined as the first Sunday after the first full moon on or after the March equinox, which is why it can land anywhere between 22 March and 25 April.
Why does Ramadan move noticeably earlier each year?
The Islamic calendar year runs about eleven days shorter than the Gregorian one, so every Islamic date drifts steadily backward through the seasons over time.
Why do Diwali and Chinese New Year seem to jump around unpredictably?
Both sit on lunisolar calendars, which track the moon but periodically insert a leap month specifically to stay roughly in step with the solar seasons.