Epiphany 2027 (Three Kings Day)

When is Epiphany 2027?

The traditional date of Epiphany is fixed at January 6, so the 2027 feast falls on Wednesday, January 6, 2027. It follows the Twelve Days of Christmas, which run from December 25 to January 5.

Catholic dioceses in the United States move the liturgical celebration to the Sunday between January 2 and January 8, so Epiphany Mass is often held a few days before or after January 6. When January 6 is itself a Sunday, the two dates match.

Orthodox churches that still use the Julian calendar, including the Russian, Serbian and Georgian churches, celebrate Theophany on January 6 of that calendar, which is January 19 on the civil calendar. The same 13-day gap puts their Christmas on January 7, as explained on the Orthodox Christmas page. The Greek, Romanian and Bulgarian churches keep Theophany on January 6.

What is Epiphany?

The name comes from the Greek epiphaneia, meaning appearance or manifestation. In Catholic and Protestant churches, Epiphany recalls the Magi, the wise men from the East who, according to the Gospel of Matthew, followed a star to Bethlehem and brought gold, frankincense and myrrh. Matthew gives neither the number nor the names of the Magi; the tradition that there were three comes from the three gifts.

In Eastern Orthodox churches the feast is called Theophany, the appearance of God, and centers on the baptism of Jesus by John the Baptist in the Jordan River. Western churches mark the Baptism of the Lord separately, usually on the Sunday after Epiphany. The Armenian Apostolic Church celebrates Christmas and Theophany together on January 6.

When is Twelfth Night?

Twelfth Night is usually the evening of January 5, the eve of Epiphany and the last night of the Twelve Days of Christmas. Some people count the twelve nights from December 26 and place Twelfth Night on the evening of January 6, so local customs differ.

In England, Twelfth Night was once a major night of feasting, centered on a rich Twelfth cake with a bean hidden inside, and Shakespeare's comedy Twelfth Night takes its name from the holiday. A long-standing custom in Britain and elsewhere is to take Christmas decorations down by Twelfth Night or Epiphany.

King cake and the start of Carnival season

In New Orleans and across Louisiana, January 6 opens Carnival season, which runs until Mardi Gras (Fat Tuesday), the day before Ash Wednesday. Because Mardi Gras is tied to the date of Easter, the season's length changes every year.

King cake is the season's signature treat: a ring of sweet, brioche-style dough, often filled or swirled with cinnamon, topped with icing and sugar in purple, green and gold. A small plastic baby, usually said to represent the infant Jesus, is hidden inside, and whoever finds it traditionally buys the next cake or hosts the next party.

Tradition holds that king cake belongs only to the stretch between Epiphany and Mardi Gras. France has its own version, the galette des rois, a puff-pastry cake filled with almond cream that hides a small charm called a fève; the finder wears a paper crown as king or queen for the day.

Three Kings Day traditions around the world

Día de Reyes in Spain and Latin America

In Spain, Mexico and much of Latin America, the Three Kings (Reyes Magos) are the traditional gift-bringers. Children write letters to the kings and leave their shoes out on the night of January 5, Spanish towns hold parades called cabalgatas that evening, and families open presents on the morning of January 6. In Puerto Rico, where Three Kings Day is an official holiday, children leave grass or hay in a box for the kings' camels.

The holiday table centers on a ring-shaped sweet bread decorated with candied fruit, called roscón de reyes in Spain and rosca de reyes in Mexico. In Mexico, whoever finds a tiny figure of the baby Jesus baked inside hosts a tamale party on February 2, Candlemas (Día de la Candelaria). In Spain the roscón usually hides a small figure and a dried bean, and whoever gets the bean traditionally pays for the cake.

La Befana in Italy

In Italy, Epiphany (Epifania) belongs to La Befana, a kindly old woman on a broomstick who fills children's stockings with sweets on the night of January 5 and leaves coal for the naughty. An Italian saying holds that Epiphany takes all the holidays away, since it closes the Christmas season.

Chalking the door

In an Epiphany house blessing, the year and the letters C, M and B are written over the front door in blessed chalk, with the year split around the letters and crosses between them: in 2026 the inscription read 20 + C + M + B + 26. The letters stand for the traditional names of the Magi and for the Latin Christus mansionem benedicat, May Christ bless this house. In Germany and Austria, children dressed as the kings, called Sternsinger (star singers), go door to door chalking homes and collecting money for charity.

Blessing of the waters

Orthodox churches celebrate Theophany with the Great Blessing of the Waters. In Greece, Cyprus and Bulgaria, a priest throws a cross into the sea, a river or a lake and swimmers race to retrieve it. In Russia, where the feast falls on January 19, some people bathe in cross-shaped holes cut in the ice.

Where is Epiphany a public holiday?

January 6 is a public holiday in these countries and regions:

• Spain
• Italy
• Austria
• Germany, in Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria and Saxony-Anhalt only
• Poland, where it was reinstated as a day off in 2011
• Sweden and Finland
• Croatia
• Greece and Cyprus, as Theophany

It is not a public holiday in the United States, the UK, Canada or Australia, so offices and banks keep normal hours. The US territories of Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands are exceptions. For days off elsewhere in the month, see the list of January holidays.

Epiphany dates 2024–2035

Epiphany is always January 6, so only the weekday changes from year to year. The January 6 page covers other events on the date, and the January 2027 calendar shows it in a printable month view.

Related

• January holidays
• Orthodox Christmas
• January 6
• January 5
• National days
• January 2027 calendar