When Is Hanukkah 2026?

Live Countdown to the Holiday

Hanukkah begins on Friday, December 4, 2026 — 96 days from now.

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Chag Sameach!

Hanukkah 2026 begins on Friday, December 4, 2026. Live countdown, dates through 2030, and how the date is determined.

Hanukkah (IPA: ; Hebrew: חֲנֻכָ, romanized: Ḥănukkā, lit. 'dedication', ) is a Jewish holiday that commemorates the Maccabean Revolt against the Seleucid Empire in the 2nd century BCE, when the Maccabees successfully recovered Jerusalem and the Second Temple. Hanukkah begins at sundown before 25 Kislev and lasts eight nights.

Hanukkah begins on Friday, December 4, 2026. The countdown above updates live, so you always see exactly how many days, hours, and minutes are left.

Hanukkah dates by year

Year	Date
2026	Friday, December 4, 2026	in 96 days
2027	Friday, December 24, 2027	in 481 days
2028	Tuesday, December 12, 2028	in 835 days
2029	Saturday, December 1, 2029	in 1189 days
2030	Friday, December 20, 2030	in 1573 days

The holiday begins at sundown on the previous evening.

Why does the date move?

Jewish holidays are fixed in the Hebrew calendar, which is lunisolar: months follow the moon, and a leap month is added seven times every nineteen years to stay aligned with the seasons. Because Hebrew years are 353–385 days long, each holiday drifts within a roughly month-wide window of the civil calendar. All Jewish holidays begin at sundown on the evening before the date shown.