Christmas Presentation Ideas for 2026: 25 for Work, School and Church, Each With a Slide Outline

Disclosure: NOXI publishes this guide and is the tool in its build section. Every idea and outline works in PowerPoint, Google Slides, Keynote or any other presentation software. Each date and fact comes from an official or primary page opened on 9 November 2026, numbered in the sources at the end.

You probably have five to fifteen minutes in December and a room you know: a team, a class or a congregation. So every idea says who it suits, how long it runs and what goes on each slide. Pick by room, then by time.

All 25 Christmas presentation ideas at a glance

Pick a number, then jump to its outline. Times are for presenting.

Key numbers

Six figures to plan around, read on 9 November 2026.

The 2026 season: dates to build your slides around

A deck that names the wrong day is the one mistake everybody notices. These are the dates that matter from late November 2026 to early January 2027, each from the page that sets it.

With Christmas Eve on a Thursday, the week of Monday 14 December is the last full working week before Christmas, so book your slot then or earlier. And because Boxing Day falls on a Saturday, the UK's substitute bank holiday is Monday 28 December [1]: check it on any slide that lists closing dates.

Which idea fits your room

Six quick routes. Each names the idea and the reason it fits.

• If you have five minutes at the last team meeting → idea 2, the thank-you wall: four slides that still include everyone.
• If your team is mixed-faith or international → idea 4, winter traditions from our team, because Acas advises asking staff which activities appeal rather than assuming one suits everyone [9].
• If the party is a video call → idea 9, because every slide asks for one answer in the chat and nobody needs a camera.
• If you teach children under 9 → idea 10 or idea 11: a picture quiz they can play without reading, or reindeer facts from the US National Park Service and Alaska's wildlife department [17] [18].
• If you lead a church service → idea 21 for a carol service or idea 25 for the screen before it.
• If you need the slides built tonight → use your own PowerPoint or Google Slides with the outline below, or paste one request into NOXI's Presentation format and edit the result by chat.

Christmas presentation ideas for work: 9 for the office and remote teams

These nine are secular-friendly: they celebrate the team, the year and the season, and none asks anyone to mark a religious festival. In a YouGov poll of 1,052 employees in Great Britain for Acas, Britain's workplace advice service, 12% said they dislike one-off celebrations such as Christmas, birthdays and leaving parties [9]. So keep each one short, in working hours and optional.

1. Our year in six numbers

For: a team meeting or an all-hands · Time: 10 minutes · Slides: 6 · Tone: warm and proud. Why it works: it is about everybody in the room, and the team's own numbers are easier to celebrate than slogans.

1. Title: the year and a line, such as "Our 2026 in six numbers".
2. The year in one sentence, with one number in it.
3. Six numbers, each with last year's figure beside it.
4. Four moments by month on a simple timeline.
5. What we learned, as keep, stop and start.
6. Thank you, and the first date back in January.

The long version is our year in review presentation guide.

2. The thank-you wall

For: any team · Time: 5 minutes · Slides: 4 · Tone: warm. Why it works: specific thanks land and general thanks do not. "Priya rebuilt the rota in a week" is remembered; "thanks, everyone" is not.

1. "Thank you, 2026", with a team photo only if everyone in it agreed.
2. Thanks inside the team: one line per person, a name and what they did, in no ranking order.
3. Thanks outside the team: cleaners, IT, reception, clients, suppliers.
4. "See you in January", with the date you are back.

3. A quiz round about our year

For: teams of 8 to 60 · Time: 15 minutes · Slides: 6 · Tone: playful. Why it works: everyone plays, in a room or on a call, with questions from the team's own year.

1. Rules: teams, how to answer, the prize.
2. Round 1, guess the number: four questions from your own year, such as projects finished or the month you moved.
3. Round 2, who said it: four quotes colleagues agreed to share.
4. Round 3, festive general knowledge: four questions, each checked against one official page, for example: since what year has Norway given London its Trafalgar Square tree? (1947) [11]
5. Answers, round by round.
6. Scores and winners.

For round 3, use our Christmas trivia questions.

4. Winter traditions from our team

For: mixed-faith or international teams · Time: 10 to 15 minutes · Slides: 5 · Tone: curious and warm. Why it works: Christmas becomes one of several December days on the slide, and colleagues share only what they choose to.

1. "How we mark the end of the year".
2. The December calendar, with sourced dates: Hanukkah from sunset on Friday 4 December to nightfall on Saturday 12 December 2026 [6], the December solstice on Monday 21 December [5], Christmas Day on Friday 25 December [1], Kwanzaa from 26 December to 1 January [7], and Christmas for Egypt's Coptic Christians on 7 January [8].
3. Five colleagues, one tradition each: invited in advance, never assigned, a photo and two lines.
4. Food from home, labelled, with dietary needs in mind, which Acas asks employers to consider when they provide food for events [10].
5. One thing we will keep doing next year.

5. The twelve days of our year

For: any team · Time: 10 minutes · Slides: 6 · Tone: light. Why it works: it borrows a countdown everyone knows without using the song's words, and it forces you to choose twelve real moments.

1. Title, counting down from twelve.
2. Days 12 to 10: January to March, one moment a month.
3. Days 9 to 7: April to June.
4. Days 6 to 4: July to September.
5. Days 3 and 2: October and November.
6. Day 1: the team itself, with a thank-you.

6. Office awards everyone wins

For: teams up to about 30 · Time: 10 minutes · Slides: 5 · Tone: funny and kind. Why it works: the laughs come from moments and habits, never from anyone's looks, age, faith or drinking, and nobody goes home without a mention.

1. "The 2026 desk awards", with the one rule: everyone gets one.
2. Awards for moments: "Calmest voice on the hardest deadline", "Rescuer of the Friday afternoon".
3. Awards for habits: "Keeper of the office plant", "Most inventive use of the shared calendar".
4. Awards for help: "First to answer any question in the team chat".
5. The award for the whole team, and the group photo.

7. Gift swap rules in four slides

For: anyone organising a Secret Santa or gift swap · Time: 3 minutes · Slides: 4 · Tone: practical. Why it works: a clear budget and a sign-up date prevent the awkward gift and the colleague who feels left out.

1. How it works, and that joining is optional: sign up by a date.
2. The budget, and one rule: no joke gifts about a person.
3. Three dates: names drawn, gifts in, the swap itself.
4. The alternative: put the same amount into a team donation instead.

8. A winter safety moment

For: offices, warehouses and staff meetings · Time: 5 minutes · Slides: 4 · Tone: practical. Why it works: the season brings ladders, lights and late journeys. The US Consumer Product Safety Commission says about 14,900 people were treated in emergency rooms for holiday decorating injuries from November 2022 to January 2023, and nearly half of such injuries involve falls [14].

1. The number, with its country, its dates and its source [14].
2. Ladders and chairs: who puts the decorations up, and with what.
3. Lights and candles: no more than three sets of incandescent lights strung together, no overloaded sockets, and candles never left burning unattended [14].
4. Getting home: the plan for the late finish and the dark commute.

More topics: our safety moment ideas.

9. A festive call for remote teams

For: distributed teams on a video call · Time: 15 minutes · Slides: 6 · Tone: playful. Why it works: nothing to post and nothing to download, cameras optional, and each slide asks for one quick answer in the chat.

1. How to play: answer in the chat, unmute if you like.
2. This or that, six pairs: hot chocolate or tea, snow or sun, early or late.
3. Show one thing within reach that says winter where you are.
4. Two truths and a tale about your December.
5. Where everyone is today, on a map, for those who opt in.
6. Thank you, and everyone's days off.

Holiday presentation ideas for mixed teams: keep it inclusive

Holiday presentation ideas work best at work when the year, the team and the season are the subject. Acas's advice for team activities is short: ask staff which activities appeal ("ask, listen, respond"), and hold them within normal working hours so personal time is protected and people with caring responsibilities are not left out [9]. Its guidance on religion or belief adds that employers should try to allow time off for festivals that matter to staff, and consider dietary needs when they provide food for events [10].

For a whole-company version, close our all-hands meeting presentation with one of these ideas.

Christmas presentation ideas for school: 9 by age

Youngest to oldest. Every fact comes from an official or primary page; put its source in small type at the foot of the slide so students pick up the habit. For tools, see our ranking of AI presentation tools for teachers.

10. Guess the decoration (ages 4 to 7)

For: nursery, reception and the first school years · Time: 10 minutes · Slides: 6 · Tone: playful. Why it works: children play without reading: a close-up, then the whole object on the next click.

1. How to play: call out what you think it is.
2. A bauble, close-up first, then the whole bauble.
3. A pine cone, close-up, then the cone.
4. A mitten, close-up, then the pair.
5. A paper snowflake, close-up, then the whole one.
6. Make your own close-up: each child draws one for the class to guess.

11. Reindeer and caribou (ages 5 to 9)

For: early primary classes · Time: 10 minutes · Slides: 5 · Tone: curious. Why it works: a real animal sits behind the story, with two facts that surprise children.

1. "Are reindeer real?"
2. One animal, two names: caribou in North America and reindeer in Eurasia are the same species, Rangifer tarandus [17].
3. Wild or tame: all caribou are wild, while reindeer can be wild, semi-domesticated or domesticated [17].
4. Antlers on females too: caribou are the only member of the deer family in which both sexes grow antlers [18].
5. Who still has antlers in December? The largest bulls shed theirs in late October, while pregnant females usually keep theirs until their calves are born in late May or early June [18].

12. The phone call that started NORAD Tracks Santa (ages 7 to 11)

For: middle primary classes · Time: 8 minutes · Slides: 5 · Tone: a true story. Why it works: a date, a place and a kind decision.

1. 1955, Colorado Springs: a child who had seen a promotion in a local newspaper dials a number believing she is calling Santa, and reaches the Continental Air Defense Command [13].
2. Colonel Harry Shoup, the commander on duty, realises the mistake and promises her that Santa will have a safe journey from the North Pole [13].
3. 1958: NORAD is formed and keeps the tradition [13].
4. The rest of the year: NORAD tracks everything that flies in and around North America [13].
5. Class question: what would you have said on the phone?

13. Christmas around the world in six slides (ages 7 to 11)

For: primary classes and assemblies · Time: 10 minutes · Slides: 6 · Tone: curious. Why it works: four places, one fact each from an official page, then the children's own families.

1. A world map with four pins.
2. Kraków, Poland: szopka nativity scenes set among models of the city's buildings; makers gather on the Main Square on the first Thursday of December, which is 3 December in 2026, and the tradition joined UNESCO's list in 2018 [15].
3. Romania and Moldova: groups of young men rehearse ritual songs and sing them house to house on Christmas Eve, the Colindat, on UNESCO's list since 2013 [16].
4. London: the Trafalgar Square tree, given by the people of Norway every year since 1947 in thanks for Britain's support during the Second World War [11], shipped from Brevik to Immingham in about 26 hours [12].
5. Egypt: Christmas is marked on 7 January, an official paid holiday for public-sector staff in 2026, when the Prime Minister sent greetings to Coptic Egyptians [8].
6. Our families: one tradition from each table.

14. The science of snowflakes (ages 9 to 14)

For: upper primary and lower secondary science · Time: 10 minutes · Slides: 5 · Tone: curious. Why it works: a seasonal topic with real physics, and an activity at the end.

1. Where it starts: a snowflake begins when an extremely cold water droplet freezes onto a particle of pollen or dust in the sky [19].
2. Why six sides: the crystal structure of ice is six-sided, so each icy face is six-sided too [20].
3. How branches grow: water vapour condenses on the first thing it touches, so a small bump catches more vapour and grows into a branch [20].
4. Temperature sets the shape: long needle-like crystals at about 23°F (minus 5°C) and very flat plates at about 5°F (minus 15°C) [19].
5. Why no two match: each flake takes a slightly different path to the ground [19]. Then fold paper into six and cut.

15. The story of Silent Night (ages 9 to 16)

For: music, history or assembly · Time: 8 minutes · Slides: 5 · Tone: calm. Why it works: the carol has a short, documented story with two people and two villages.

1. 1816, Mariapfarr: Joseph Mohr writes a poem filled with hope [21].
2. Two years later: Franz Xaver Gruber composes the melody [21].
3. Christmas Eve 1818, Oberndorf: the song is first heard, with a guitar and two voices [21].
4. How a song travels: ask the class which languages they have heard it in.
5. Listen together, with the recording's licence checked first (see the checklist below).

16. A Christmas Carol in six slides (ages 11 to 16)

For: English literature · Time: 12 minutes · Slides: 6 · Tone: literary. Why it works: the book's five staves map neatly onto five slides, and 1843 makes a strong opening.

1. 1843: Chapman & Hall publish Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol with illustrations by John Leech; Dickens signs a copy for his friend John Forster on 18 December 1843 [22]. The same year, Henry Cole commissions the first Christmas card and prints a thousand copies [24].
2. Stave I, Marley's Ghost [23].
3. Stave II, The First of the Three Spirits [23].
4. Stave III, The Second of the Three Spirits [23].
5. Stave IV, The Last of the Spirits [23].
6. Stave V, The End of It: what changes in Scrooge, and one discussion question. The text is free to read on Project Gutenberg, which marks it public domain in the USA [23].

17. The Christmas truce of 1914 (ages 12 to 18)

For: history classes · Time: 12 minutes · Slides: 5 · Tone: serious. Why it works: Imperial War Museums tells the story with its limits included, a lesson in itself.

1. Christmas Eve 1914: British troops hear German soldiers singing carols and patriotic songs and see lanterns and small fir trees along their trenches [25].
2. Christmas Day: soldiers meet in No Man's Land, exchange gifts and take photographs, and some play impromptu football [25].
3. The other work of the truce: burying casualties and repairing trenches [25].
4. Not everywhere: elsewhere the fighting continued and there were casualties on Christmas Day [25].
5. After 1914: both High Commands tried to prevent truces on that scale [25]. Discussion: why might they have done so?

18. December festivals compared (ages 14 to 18)

For: religious education or citizenship · Time: 15 minutes · Slides: 6 · Tone: respectful. Why it works: students compare dates side by side, each tradition described by its own sources.

1. Why December is busy: one calendar, several traditions.
2. Hanukkah: from sunset on 4 December to nightfall on 12 December 2026 [6].
3. The December solstice: an astronomical moment, 20:50 UTC on 21 December 2026 [5].
4. Christmas: Friday 25 December 2026, a public holiday in the UK and the US [1] [2]; Egypt's Coptic Christians celebrate on 7 January [8].
5. Kwanzaa: created in 1966 by Maulana Karenga, celebrated from 26 December to 1 January around seven principles, from Umoja (unity) to Imani (faith) [7].
6. Discussion: what the festivals share, in the students' own words.

Christmas presentation ideas for church: 7 for services, youth and kids

These assume a congregation that shares the faith. Use your own church's calendar and Bible translation; dates here come from the Catholic bishops' calendars for the United States and for England and Wales [3] [4], references from the USCCB's online Bible [26] [27].

19. The nativity in six scenes

For: an all-age service or Sunday school · Time: 10 minutes · Slides: 6 · Tone: reverent. Why it works: each slide carries one reading reference, so the readers and the screen stay in step.

1. Title and the list of readings.
2. The journey and the birth in Bethlehem: Luke 2:1 to 7 [26].
3. Angels appear to the shepherds: Luke 2:8 to 14 [26].
4. The shepherds visit: Luke 2:15 to 20 [26].
5. The Magi: Matthew 2:1 to 12 [27].
6. The flight to Egypt, Matthew 2:13 to 15, and a closing prayer [27].

20. Advent in four Sundays

For: Sunday services through December · Time: 5 minutes each week · Slides: 5 · Tone: reflective. Why it works: one slide per Sunday turns the wreath into a timeline the congregation can follow. The USCCB describes four candles set in a circle of evergreen branches, ideally three purple and one rose, though white candles can also be used [3].

1. First Sunday of Advent, 29 November 2026: the first candle [3] [4].
2. Second Sunday, 6 December.
3. Third Sunday, 13 December, Gaudete Sunday: the rose candle [3].
4. Fourth Sunday, 20 December.
5. Christmas Eve, Thursday 24 December: Advent ends that evening, before the first evening prayer of Christmas [3].

Churches name and colour the candles in different ways; follow your own tradition on the slides.

21. A carol service on screen

For: a carol service · Time: the length of your service · Slides: 6 sections · Tone: traditional. Why it works: the Nine Lessons shape is more than a century old and well known, so the screen only has to keep people in step. King's College, Cambridge first held A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols on Christmas Eve 1918, adapted from an order drawn up for Truro in 1880; it has opened with "Once in royal David's city" since a 1919 revision and was first broadcast in 1928 [28].

1. Welcome and the opening hymn.
2. Lessons 1 to 3, each followed by its carol.
3. Lessons 4 to 6.
4. Lessons 7 to 9.
5. Prayers, the blessing and the closing hymn.
6. Giving, refreshments and the Christmas Day service time.

22. A nativity play backdrop for church kids

For: a children's nativity · Time: 10 minutes · Slides: 6 · Tone: joyful. Why it works: a projected backdrop per scene replaces painted sets.

1. Nazareth: a quiet street at dusk.
2. The road to Bethlehem.
3. No room at the inn: the stable.
4. The shepherds' hillside at night.
5. The star and the Magi.
6. Everyone together, and thanks to families and helpers.

Keep children's names and photos off the screen unless their parents have agreed.

23. What the Christmas symbols mean

For: a youth group, ages 11 to 18 · Time: 10 minutes · Slides: 5 · Tone: discussion. Why it works: each symbol gets its story and a date, then the group talks.

1. The star: in Matthew's account, the Magi follow it to the child [27].
2. The Advent wreath: a circle of evergreen and four candles, one for each week [3].
3. The nativity scene: in Kraków, building them grew into a craft tradition born in the nineteenth century and on UNESCO's list since 2018 [15].
4. The carol: Silent Night, first heard on Christmas Eve 1818 [21].
5. The card: the first was commissioned by Henry Cole in 1843 [24]. Discussion: which symbol means most to you, and why?

24. Our giving project report

For: the congregation, after a food bank, toy appeal or Christmas offering · Time: 5 minutes · Slides: 5 · Tone: grateful. Why it works: people who gave see where it went.

1. What we set out to do, and for whom.
2. What you gave, counted from your own records.
3. Where it went: partners, places and dates.
4. One story, told with the person's consent.
5. Thank you, and what January needs.

25. The welcome loop before services

For: the screen as people arrive · Time: a silent loop for the 10 to 15 minutes before each service · Slides: 5 · Tone: welcoming. Why it works: Christmas brings visitors who do not know the building, and five slides on repeat answer their questions.

1. Welcome, the service name and start time.
2. All Christmas services: Christmas Eve on Thursday 24 December and Christmas Day on Friday 25 December 2026 [1] [2], with times.
3. For newcomers: where to sit, the children's area, step-free access, toilets.
4. Giving and this year's appeal.
5. After Christmas: Sunday 27 December, and the first service of 2027.

A filled example: the 10-slide office Christmas presentation

Ideas 1, 2 and 3 combine into one fifteen-minute office deck: year highlights, thank-yous and a quiz round. Harbour and Pine is a fictional 40-person design studio and its year is made up; the festive quiz facts are real and sourced. Swap in your own year.

The four festive questions on slide 7, with the page each answer comes from: since what year has Norway given London the Trafalgar Square tree (1947) [11]; in what year did a misdialled call start NORAD Tracks Santa (1955) [13]; in which Austrian village was Silent Night first heard on Christmas Eve 1818 (Oberndorf) [21]; and are reindeer and caribou the same species (yes, Rangifer tarandus) [17]. For pacing other decks, see how many slides per minute.

Ready requests to paste

These work in NOXI and most AI presentation tools. Replace the brackets, then check every name and fact.

Make a Christmas PowerPoint presentation in NOXI from one request

If you would rather have the deck made for you, NOXI 2.0 builds it from one request in its Presentation format, one of fourteen formats it makes. Here is the office deck above, start to finish; the engine itself is described in our NOXI 2.0 launch article.

NOXI is free to start: the free plan covers five documents a month, and every change after that, by chat or by hand, is free. New accounts get a welcome gift to use in their first 14 days, and no credit card is needed. For topics beyond the season, see our presentation ideas.

What to check before you present

Festive decks fail in small, public ways: a misspelt name, a wrong date, an unwanted photo. Five minutes with this list prevents most of it.

Christmas presentation questions people ask

What are good Christmas presentation ideas for work?

Five that suit most offices: your year in six numbers, a thank-you wall naming everyone once, a quiz round about the year, winter traditions shared by volunteers, and gift swap rules in four slides. Keep each between three and fifteen minutes and optional, and hold it inside working hours, as Acas advises for team activities.

What are some funny Christmas presentation ideas for the office?

Office awards everyone wins, the twelve days of our year, a guess-the-number quiz about your own team, and a this-or-that round for video calls. What keeps them funny is joking about moments and habits, never about anyone's looks, age, faith or drinking, and giving every person in the room one award.

What are good Christmas presentation ideas for kids?

For ages 4 to 7, a guess-the-decoration picture quiz in six slides. For ages 5 to 9, reindeer and caribou: one species, and both sexes grow antlers. For ages 7 to 11, the 1955 phone call that started NORAD Tracks Santa, or Christmas around the world in six slides with one sourced fact each.

How long should a Christmas presentation be?

Between three and fifteen minutes for most rooms. Gift swap rules need three, a thank-you wall five, a year-in-numbers deck ten and a quiz round fifteen. School talks on this page run eight to fifteen minutes by age. Rehearse once with a timer, because festive rooms tend to run late.

How many slides should a Christmas presentation have?

Four to six slides for a single idea, which is how every outline on this page is built, and about ten when you combine highlights, thank-yous and a quiz. A quiz uses more slides per minute than a talk, because each question and its answer sit on separate slides so nobody reads ahead.

How do I keep a Christmas presentation inclusive at work?

Make the year and the team the subject, name Christmas where it is the occasion, and invite rather than assign anyone to share a tradition. Acas, Britain's workplace advice service, says to ask staff which activities appeal and to hold them in working hours; in its January 2025 poll, 20% disliked regular after-hours socials.

When is Christmas 2026, and when does Advent start?

Christmas Day is Friday 25 December 2026, a bank holiday in the UK and a federal holiday in the US, and the UK's Boxing Day bank holiday moves to Monday 28 December. Advent begins on Sunday 29 November 2026 and runs until Christmas Eve, Thursday 24 December.

Can I use Christmas songs in my presentation?

You can name and discuss them freely, but take care with recordings and words on screen. In the UK, PPL PRS says music played outside a home counts as public performance and usually needs TheMusicLicence, with temporary permits for events. Project hymn or song words only where your church or school holds the right to.

How do I make a Christmas quiz in PowerPoint?

Put one question on each slide and its answer on the next, so nobody reads ahead. Use three rounds of four: your own year, quotes colleagues agreed to share, and festive general knowledge checked against one official page each. Our Christmas trivia questions page has a bank of checked questions ready to use.

Can AI make a Christmas PowerPoint for me?

Yes. In NOXI, keep the Presentation format and describe the deck in one request, such as ten slides with year highlights, thank-yous and a quiz round. NOXI plans, writes and designs the slides, presents them with motion and exports a PowerPoint with editable text. The free plan covers five documents a month, with no watermark.

Sources & methodology

How this guide was made: every date, figure, name and historical detail comes from the official or primary page below, each checked 9 November 2026. The ideas, outlines, times, tones and age bands are editorial recommendations. Harbour and Pine is fictional. Bible references are chapter and verse only, and no lyrics are reproduced. Nothing here is legal advice.

• [1] Christmas Day, Friday 25 December 2026; Boxing Day (substitute day), Monday 28 December 2026; New Year's Day, Friday 1 January 2027, in the England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland lists · GOV.UK, UK bank holidays, checked 9 November 2026.
• [2] 2026 federal holidays: Christmas Day, Friday, December 25; 2027: New Year's Day, Friday, January 1 · US Office of Personnel Management, federal holidays, checked 9 November 2026.
• [3] Advent begins with First Vespers of the Sunday on or closest to 30 November and ends before First Vespers (Evening Prayer I) of Christmas; season dated Sunday 29 November 2026 to Thursday 24 December 2026; wreath of four candles in a circle of evergreen branches, ideally three purple and one rose, white also possible; rose candle on the third Sunday, Gaudete Sunday · USCCB, Advent, checked 9 November 2026.
• [4] Sunday 29 November 2026: 1st Sunday of Advent · Liturgy Office of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales, calendar for November 2026, checked 9 November 2026.
• [5] December solstice 2026: 21 December, 20:50, time zone offset 0 (UTC) · US Naval Observatory, Earth's seasons 2026, checked 9 November 2026.
• [6] Chanukah 2026 begins at sunset on Friday, December 4, 2026 and ends at nightfall on Saturday, December 12, 2026 · Chabad.org, Jewish holidays in 2026, checked 9 November 2026.
• [7] Kwanzaa, created in 1966 by Dr. Maulana Karenga, celebrated from December 26 to January 1; the seven principles (Nguzo Saba), Umoja (Unity) to Imani (Faith) · Maulana Karenga, Kwanzaa, checked 9 November 2026.
• [8] Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly declared Wednesday, January 7, an official paid holiday on the occasion of Christmas, with greetings to Coptic Egyptians (published 4 January 2026) · Egypt State Information Service, checked 9 November 2026.
• [9] Acas press release, 14 March 2025: YouGov poll of 1,052 employees in Great Britain, 16 to 24 January 2025; 31% dislike team-building activities, 20% regular social events after working hours such as drinks, 19% any social activity with colleagues, 12% one-off special celebrations such as Christmas, birthdays and leaving parties; advice to ask staff ("ask, listen, respond") and to hold team-building within normal working hours · Acas, Team building tops the list of most-disliked workplace social activities, checked 9 November 2026.
• [10] Employers should consider dietary needs connected to religion or belief when providing food for a canteen or events, and should try to allow time off for festivals important to staff (page updated 29 October 2024) · Acas, Preventing religion or belief discrimination, checked 9 November 2026.
• [11] The Trafalgar Square tree is given by the people of Norway in gratitude for Britain's support during World War II, every year since 1947; carol singing sessions at its base throughout December · Greater London Authority, Christmas at Trafalgar Square, checked 9 November 2026.
• [12] Since 1947 Oslo has gifted a Christmas tree to London; the City Council unanimously agreed to continue for four more years, until 2027; driven to Brevik and shipped to Immingham, a crossing of about 26 hours · City of Oslo, The Trafalgar Square Christmas tree, checked 9 November 2026.
• [13] NORAD has tracked Santa since 1955, when a child who had seen a newspaper promotion dialled the unlisted number of the Continental Air Defense Command Operations Center in Colorado Springs; Colonel Harry Shoup, on duty, assured her of Santa's safe journey; the tradition passed to NORAD when it was formed in 1958; NORAD tracks everything that flies in and around North America (fact sheet dated 26 April 2013) · NORAD, NORAD Tracks Santa fact sheet, checked 9 November 2026.
• [14] About 14,900 people treated in emergency rooms for holiday decorating injuries from 1 November 2022 to 31 January 2023; about 160 Christmas decorating injuries a day in the season, nearly half involving falls; tips: never string together more than three sets of incandescent lights, never overload outlets, never leave candles unattended (release dated 19 November 2024) · US Consumer Product Safety Commission, Happy Holidays Start with Safety, checked 9 November 2026.
• [15] Nativity scene (szopka) tradition in Krakow, Poland, inscribed 2018 on the Representative List; born in the nineteenth century; makers gather on the Main Square on the first Thursday of December; shown by the Historical Museum of the City of Krakow from December to February · UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage, checked 9 November 2026.
• [16] Men's group Colindat, Christmas-time ritual, Romania and the Republic of Moldova, inscribed 2013; on Christmas Eve groups of young men go from house to house singing festive songs · UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage, checked 9 November 2026.
• [17] Caribou and reindeer are the same species, Rangifer tarandus; caribou in North America, reindeer in Eurasia; all caribou are wild, reindeer can be wild, semi-domesticated or domesticated (updated 20 January 2026) · US National Park Service, Caribou vs. Reindeer, checked 9 November 2026.
• [18] Caribou are the only member of the deer family in which both sexes grow antlers; the largest bulls shed antlers in late October; pregnant females usually keep theirs until calves are born in late May or early June · Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Caribou species profile, checked 9 November 2026.
• [19] A snowflake begins when an extremely cold water droplet freezes onto a pollen or dust particle; long needle-like crystals at 23 degrees F and very flat plate-like crystals at 5 degrees F; individual snowflakes follow slightly different paths to the ground (updated 21 December 2022) · NOAA, How do snowflakes form?, checked 9 November 2026.
• [20] The crystal structure of frozen ice is a six-sided shape, so an icy facet is six-sided as well; branches form because water vapour condenses on the first thing it touches · NOAA NESDIS, How do snowflakes form?, checked 9 November 2026.
• [21] In 1816 Joseph Mohr wrote the poem in Mariapfarr; two years later Franz Xaver Gruber composed the melody; first heard on Christmas Eve 1818 in Oberndorf with a guitar and two voices · SalzburgerLand Tourism, 200 years of Silent Night, checked 9 November 2026.
• [22] A Christmas Carol, printed and published 1843 by Chapman & Hall with illustrations by John Leech; inscribed to John Forster by Dickens, 18 December 1843 · Victoria and Albert Museum, collections, checked 9 November 2026.
• [23] Stave headings: I Marley's Ghost; II The First of the Three Spirits; III The Second of the Three Spirits; IV The Last of the Spirits; V The End of It; "Public domain in the USA" · Project Gutenberg, eBook 46, checked 9 November 2026.
• [24] Henry Cole commissioned the first Christmas card in 1843, designed by John Callcott Horsley, printing a thousand copies (updated 17 April 2024) · Victoria and Albert Museum, The first Christmas card, checked 9 November 2026.
• [25] Christmas Eve 1914, carols and lanterns along the German trenches; on Christmas Day gifts, photographs and some impromptu football in No Man's Land; casualties buried and trenches repaired; not observed everywhere; after 1914 the High Commands tried to prevent truces on a similar scale · Imperial War Museums, The real story of the Christmas truce, checked 9 November 2026.
• [26] Luke 2: The Birth of Jesus, verses 1 to 14; The Visit of the Shepherds, verses 15 to 20 · USCCB, New American Bible, Luke 2, checked 9 November 2026.
• [27] Matthew 2: The Visit of the Magi, verses 1 to 12; The Flight to Egypt, verses 13 to 15 · USCCB, New American Bible, Matthew 2, checked 9 November 2026.
• [28] First held at King's on Christmas Eve 1918, planned by Dean Eric Milner-White and adapted from an order drawn up by E.W. Benson for Truro in 1880; opening hymn "Once in royal David's city" since a 1919 revision; first broadcast in 1928, annually since except 1930 · King's College, Cambridge, A history of A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols, checked 9 November 2026.
• [29] Music played outside a domestic environment is classed as a public performance; businesses with employees, customers or visitors will usually need TheMusicLicence; temporary permits for events · PPL PRS, TheMusicLicence, checked 9 November 2026.