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.
About these countdowns
Every event here has a live countdown and its own page explaining what it is, when it falls and how its date is decided. When a date passes, the event moves to its next occurrence by itself, so the list never goes stale.
The list is deliberately not built around one country. It covers national days from every inhabited continent — from Waitangi Day and Merdeka to Jamhuri Day, Enkutatash and the Grito de Dolores — alongside the major festivals of the Christian, Islamic, Hindu, Jewish, Sikh and Buddhist calendars, the UN observances, the solstices and equinoxes, and the sporting events people actually count down to.
Anything missing can be added in a minute from the admin area: a title, a date, an emoji, a colour and a repeat rule is the whole of it.
Why some dates move and others do not
Dates fall into a few families, and knowing which one an event belongs to explains why it moves:
- Fixed dates — Christmas, New Year, national days. Same calendar date every year; only the weekday changes.
- Weekday rules — US Thanksgiving is the fourth Thursday in November, Memorial Day the last Monday in May. The date moves within a known window.
- Easter-linked — Good Friday, Ash Wednesday and Carnival are all counted from Easter Sunday, which itself follows the first full moon after the March equinox.
- Islamic calendar — Ramadan, both Eids, Ashura and Milad un Nabi come about eleven days earlier each Gregorian year, because the lunar year is shorter.
- Lunisolar calendars — Diwali, Holi, Chinese New Year and the Jewish festivals sit in calendars that add a leap month periodically, so they drift and then jump back.
- Solar but not Gregorian — Makar Sankranti, Nowruz and the Ethiopian new year follow the sun rather than the moon, so they barely move against our calendar even though they belong to a different one.
- One-off dates — an Olympics or a World Cup happens once and then not again for years. Those are listed with their real dates rather than a repeat rule.
Questions people ask
Are all the dates confirmed?
Fixed and rule-based dates are exact. Dates that depend on a moon sighting, the Islamic ones in particular, are calculated estimates and may differ by a day from the announcement in your country.
What time zone do the countdowns use?
The site’s own time zone, with each event starting at midnight local time unless a specific time is set.
What happens when a countdown reaches zero?
The event rolls forward to its next occurrence automatically, and the year in its title updates with it.
Why is Easter on a different date every year?
It is the first Sunday after the first full moon on or after the March equinox, so it moves between 22 March and 25 April.
Why does Ramadan move earlier each year?
The Islamic year is about eleven days shorter than the Gregorian one, so every Islamic date shifts backwards through the seasons.
Why do Diwali and Chinese New Year jump around?
Both follow lunisolar calendars, which track the moon but add a leap month every few years to stay in step with the seasons.
How is Thanksgiving’s date decided?
By a weekday rule: the fourth Thursday in November in the United States, the second Monday in October in Canada.
Which events fall on a fixed date?
National days, Christmas, New Year, Valentine’s Day and most secular observances. Only the weekday changes from year to year.
Can I get a countdown for my own date?
Use the countdown timer for a duration, or ask the site editor to add the event.
Why do two countries celebrate the same festival on different days?
Local moon sighting, different calendar authorities, or a national decision to move a holiday to the nearest weekend.
Do the events include public holidays?
Many of them are, but observance varies by country. Check locally before booking anything around one.
How far ahead do the countdowns go?
As far as you like — each event keeps rolling to its next occurrence, so the list never runs out.
Where to go next
You are on event countdowns. To check what time it is somewhere else first, go to world time.
- World Clock — pick a country or city and read its clock, offset and daylight saving rules
- Countdown timer — count down from any length you set
- Ramadan calendar — sehri and iftar for your city, all month
- Time zone converter — turn a time in one place into the same instant in another
- local time in every country — the current time in every country, territory and US state