When Is Hanukkah 2026?

Hanukkah 2026: the eight nights

Hanukkah ends at nightfall on Saturday, December 12, 2026.

Jewish holidays begin at sundown the evening before the first full day. Exact candle-lighting times depend on your location.

Why Hanukkah moves every year

Hanukkah always begins on the 25th of Kislev in the Hebrew calendar, which is lunisolar: months follow the moon, and a leap month is added seven times in 19 years to keep it in line with the seasons. That's why Hanukkah can start anywhere from late November to late December.

What Hanukkah celebrates

Hanukkah, meaning "dedication", marks the rededication of the Second Temple in Jerusalem in the 2nd century BCE, after the Maccabees' revolt against the Seleucid Empire. According to tradition, there was only enough pure oil to light the Temple menorah for one day, but it burned for eight.

Traditions

• Lighting the menorah (hanukkiah): one more candle each night, lit with the helper candle called the shamash, until all eight burn on the last night.
• Foods fried in oil: latkes (potato pancakes) and sufganiyot (jelly doughnuts).
• Dreidel: a spinning-top game, often played for chocolate coins (gelt).
• Gifts: in many families, small gifts are given on each of the eight nights.

Hanukkah dates for upcoming years

How many days until Hanukkah from other dates?

Counting from the start of each date to the start of Hanukkah 2026 (Friday, December 4, 2026):

Need a different start date? Count the days from any date to Hanukkah.

Hanukkah quick facts

• Hanukkah begins on the 25th of Kislev and lasts eight nights.
• It can start as early as late November or as late as the end of December.
• In 2013, the first day of Hanukkah coincided with US Thanksgiving, a rare overlap nicknamed 'Thanksgivukkah'.

Plan around Hanukkah

Sources

• Hebcal: Chanukah dates

More countdowns like Hanukkah

Last reviewed: Wednesday, September 30, 2026. The countdown uses your device's clock and time zone. How we get our dates.