National Days This Week, Dec. 21-27, 2026: Solstice to Kwanzaa

The winter solstice, Christmas Day and the start of Kwanzaa fall between Monday, Dec. 21 and Sunday, Dec. 27, 2026, and each comes from a different official source. The U.S. Naval Observatory (USNO) sets the solstice, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) the federal holiday, and GOV.UK and the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) the UK and Canadian days. A planner for the week follows the table.

Only days with a named setter are listed. Commercial “national food days” are left out.

Observances by day, Dec. 21-27, 2026

Date	Weekday	Observance	Set by	Our story
Dec. 21	Monday	Winter solstice, 3:50 p.m. EST	USNO	Winter solstice 2026
Dec. 24	Thursday	Weekday of Advent (Christmas Eve)	Liturgy Office of England and Wales	Is Christmas Eve a federal holiday?
Dec. 25	Friday	Christmas Day (U.S. federal holiday)	OPM
Dec. 25	Friday	Christmas Day (UK bank holiday)	GOV.UK	UK Christmas bank holidays 2026
Dec. 25	Friday	Christmas Day (Canada)	CRA
Dec. 25	Friday	The Nativity of the Lord (solemnity)	Liturgy Office of England and Wales
Dec. 26	Saturday	Boxing Day (Canada)	CRA	Boxing Day 2026 in Canada
Dec. 26	Saturday	Kwanzaa begins	National Park Service	Kwanzaa 2026
Dec. 26	Saturday	St Stephen, the first Martyr (feast)	Liturgy Office of England and Wales
Dec. 27	Sunday	The Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph (feast)	Liturgy Office of England and Wales

The church rows come from the England and Wales calendar, not a U.S. one.

When is the winter solstice on Dec. 21, 2026?

The USNO seasons data gives the December solstice as Dec. 21, 2026 at 20:50 UT. That is the time in each U.S. zone below.

Zone	Local time, Monday, Dec. 21
Eastern (EST)	3:50 p.m.
Central (CST)	2:50 p.m.
Mountain (MST)	1:50 p.m.
Pacific (PST)	12:50 p.m.

Sunset times by city are in our winter solstice story. The Chinese festival tied to the solstice has its own page: Dongzhi Festival 2026.

Which Christmas days are public holidays in the U.S., UK and Canada?

OPM’s federal holiday list reads “Friday, December 25 | Christmas Day”. As of Nov. 13, 2026 there is no federal closure order for Thursday, Dec. 24 or Saturday, Dec. 26, and Christmas Eve is not a federal, UK or Canadian holiday in these sources; see Is Christmas Eve a federal holiday?.

GOV.UK lists “25 December | Friday | Christmas Day” in all three UK regions. Its rule: “If a bank holiday is on a weekend, a ‘substitute’ weekday becomes a bank holiday, normally the following Monday.” The Boxing Day substitute is “28 December | Monday”, which falls after this week; the UK Christmas bank holidays story has the full list.

The CRA’s public holidays page, dated Jan. 6, 2026, reads “Christmas Day – Friday, December 25, 2026” and “Boxing Day – Saturday, December 26, 2026”. For the working day that follows, see Boxing Day 2026 in Canada.

When does Kwanzaa start in 2026?

The National Park Service’s African Burial Ground National Monument says “Kwanzaa begins on December 26, with the principle of Umoja, which calls for unity”, concluding “January 1, with the principle of Imani”. In 2026 Dec. 26 is a Saturday. The page was updated May 1, 2019. Our Kwanzaa 2026 story lists the seven principles by day.

What does the church calendar list for Christmas week?

The Liturgy Office of England and Wales lists Thursday, Dec. 24 as a “Weekday of Advent”, Friday, Dec. 25 as “The Nativity of the Lord” (solemnity), Saturday, Dec. 26 as “St Stephen, the first Martyr” (feast) and Sunday, Dec. 27 as “The Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph” (feast).

Santa tracking has no 2026 time yet; the Tracks Santa story has the phone number and any start announcement.

Week planner for Dec. 21-27, 2026

The one-page planner counts down to Saturday, Dec. 26 and groups each day in three columns: sky and seasons, government holidays, and faith and cultural days. Each row carries the source’s own words, with a Done box and space for notes. The church days of Dec. 24 and Dec. 27 are in the table only, because the Liturgy Office gives them as bare day numbers and the sheet carries each day’s quoted source line. Pair it with the December 2026 printable calendar or a printable weekly calendar.