Winter Season

Winter is one of the four seasons. It follows the Fall Season, and is before the Spring Season. It is the coldest and darkest season in the Northern Hemisphere. It also starts in one year, and ends in the next, so it straddles two different years. 

When it is winter in the Northern Hemisphere, it is summer in the Southern Hemisphere.

Winter Dates

• 2025/2026 = December 21, 2025 - March 19, 2026

• 2026/2027 = December 21, 2026 - March 19, 2027

• 2027/2028 = December 21, 2027 - March 18, 2028

• 2028/2029 = December 21, 2028 - March 19, 2029

• 2029/2030 = December 21, 2029- March 19, 2030

• 2030/2031 = December 21, 2030 - March 19, 2031

Major 2025/2026 Winter Holidays and Observances

• Hanukkah – Evening of December 14, 2025 to Evening of December 22, 2025

• Christmas - December 25, 2025

• New Year's Eve - December 31, 2025

• New Year's Day - January 1, 2026

• Valentine's Day - February 14, 2026

• St. Patrick's Day - March 16, 2026

Major 2025/2026 Winter Festivals and Events

• Rose Parade - or Tournament of Roses Parade is held every year on January 1 in Pasadena, California.  If Jan. 1st is a Sunday, then it will be held on January 2. It is a festival of flower covered floats, marching bands, equestrian riders followed by the Rose Bowl college football game. 

• Harbin Ice and Snow Sculpture Festival - Usually starts annually on January 5, and typically runs for a month or more, in Harbin, China and is the largest ice and snow festival in the world!

• Sundance Film Festival - January 22, 2026 - February 1, 2026 - An American Film festival held each year in Park City, Utah.

• Carnival of Venice - February 7-17, 2026 - An annual festival held in Venice, Italy where people wear masks and costumes.

• Carnival (Rio de Janeiro in Brazil) - February 13-21, 2026 - Carnival is the biggest festival in the world with two million people a day on the streets. Floats, Parades, Balls, Music and Dancing are all part of the Event

• Daytona 500 - February 15, 2026

• Mardi Gras Carnival (New Orleans) - February 17, 2026

• St. Patrick's Day Festival on March 17, in Dublin, Ireland, features a parade, costumes, music, comedy and film, and lots of beer! See our St. Patrick's Day and Holidays in Ireland pages!

See our Festivals and Events page for more festivals and events.

Fun Facts About Winter

• The first day of Winter, or the "Winter Solstice", is on December 21st, 2025, and is the shortest day of year, when the Sun reaches its most southern point in the sky at local noon. After this, the days start getting longer.

• Winter is associated with Rain, Snow, Cold Weather, Soups & Stews, soft blankets to wrap up in, raincoats and warm coats, gloves & boots in the Northern Hemisphere.

• Winter is associated with Christmas, the birth of Jesus! 

• Many animals collect food for winter or migrate to warmer climates during the fall season for the winter. Many animals that don't migrate to warmer climates will hibernate during the winter season.

Winter Foods

Life with Winter Foods is about so much more than food: it's about healthy eating and weight control when fresh produce is less available and it's difficult to get outside!

Ham and White Bean Soup

As the seasons change, the way life is done, changes too. Seasonal fruits and vegetables come and go. Winter foods like soups, replace salads. Crockpot meals just sound better than an outdoor grilled meal. The more you can cook and eat seasonally, the easier it will be to keep your budget and weight under control.

Find out more about Winter Foods! 

Winter Gardening

While Winter is a slower time in the garden, there are some tasks that you can do to make the Spring Season easier:

1. Planning - You can plan out what you want to plant in your flower and vegetable gardens in Spring.  I have a graph journal that I have mapped out for each of my raised beds, so I can go ahead and have a general idea where I am going to plant what.
2. Order Seeds and Bulbs - Winter is a great time to shop sales and order seeds and bulbs that you will be planting out in early spring.
3. Grow Inside: You can grow Herbs, Microgreens, and Sprouts inside your house. Winter is also a great time to focus on your plants inside.
4. Do some Spring Infrastructure Preparation if your climate allows.  I'm planting an Organic Orchard, and an Organic Vegetable and Herb garden, as well as lots of flowers.  I'm using Vego Garden metal garden beds.  With my retirement budget, I have to shop sales and I've found that Black Friday or Cyber Monday are great days to purchase new equipment and infrastructure for the garden!
5. Take care of the birds and wildlife that visit your yard. Bird Feeders and Bird Baths are a great idea! Also shallower baths for the Bees and Butterflies to drink from. I keep a small kiddie swimming pool filled up for the wildlife to enjoy.  I have deer, turkeys, fox, racoons, and lots of birds that visit my property.

Winter Preparation

If you live in a place where you get lots of rain and snow, you probably did a lot of preparation in the Fall Season in advance of Winter.  I'm not going to repeat them, here, but please check out my Fall page for some details on how to prepare your cars, clothes, garden and house for winter.

I would definitely suggest stocking up on Food and Firewood or Pellets if you have a wood stove or pellet stove, as prices for wood and pellets will typically be higher during the season vs. in advance.

If you live in Snow country, I would definitely suggest getting studded snow tires and stronger windshield wipers made for snow.  I found out the hard way on both of these items when I spent 4 years living in Truckee, CA by Lake Tahoe.  My first snowfall, my regular windshield wipers could not keep up, and I ended up having to roll my window down and reach around to help dump the snow accumulated in my vision path. Freezing and wet!!!

I also spun off the road and down an embankment on black ice my 2nd winter in Truckee.  I had 4 wheel drive, but I had not purchased Studded Snow Tires.  I did after that, and that made all the difference! Highly Recommend!

Wrapped Water pipes, and keeping the snow off your propane tanks are essential tasks during the Winter. 

Winter Quotes

• Winter is the time for comfort, for good food and warmth, for the touch of a friendly hand and for a talk beside the fire: it is time for home. ~ Edith Sitwell

• What I love about winter is feeling like a kid again: making snow angels, building snowmen and throwing snowballs. ~ James Patterson

• If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant: if we did not sometimes taste of adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome. ~Anne Bradstreet

• To appreciate the beauty of a snowflake, it is necessary to stand out in the cold. ~ Aristotle

• Winter is a season of recovery and preparation. ~ Paul Theroux

• The first fall of snow is not only an event but it is a magical event. ~ J.B. Priestley

• Winter is the time for stories, staying warm and learning about ourselves.  ~ Rip Miller

Winter Weather

Other helpful tips when you live in Snow Country is to make it as easy as possible to get out! That includes:

• Backing in your parking place when possible

• Pulling your windshield wipers up off the windshield so they do not freeze and stick to the windshield.

• Always have an ice scraper handy. For females these are easy to put in your purse.  In case of emergency, you can always use a credit card to scrape ice off the windows. 

• Make sure that you have the correct car before you start clearing the snow off of it! (See the Hilarious Video below!)

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