Hanukkah Countdown

About the Hanukkah countdown

How many days until Hanukkah? This page shows it live: days, hours, minutes and seconds until the first candle, on the clock of your own device. Open it and it counts — there is nothing to set.

Hanukkah, the Jewish Festival of Lights, starts on the 25th of Kislev in the Hebrew calendar and lasts eight nights. Like every Jewish day, it begins in the evening, so the first candle is lit at sundown the day before the first full day. During Hanukkah the board shows which night it is and how many candles to light, and a small menorah lights up one more candle each night.

Features

• Live countdown — days, hours, minutes and seconds, updated every second
• Dates from the Hebrew calendar — worked out on your device for any year, so the page never goes out of date
• Two ways to count — to the first candle in the evening, or to the first full day (25 Kislev)
• Night by night — during Hanukkah: "Tonight is night 3 of 8 — light 3 candles and the shamash"
• A menorah on the board — eight candles and the shamash; one more lights up each night
• Six styles — Blue and silver, Golden menorah, Starry night, Sweet treats, Blue and white and Minimal, with floating stars
• Dates for three years — this year's Hanukkah and the next two
• Full screen and Keep the screen on — for a classroom, a synagogue hall or a shop window

When is Hanukkah?

Hanukkah moves around on the everyday (Gregorian) calendar because the Hebrew calendar follows the moon. It always falls between late November and late December. These are the next dates:

Hanukkah ends at nightfall on the day after the eighth candle.

About the time of the first candle

Candles are lit after sundown, and sundown is at a different time in every town. A web page cannot know your sunset without your location, so the "first candle" countdown counts to 5:00 pm on your clock on the eve — close to sunset in December in much of North America and Europe. For the exact candle-lighting time, check your local Jewish calendar or synagogue. On Friday, Hanukkah candles are lit before the Shabbat candles, a little before sunset.

Six styles

• Blue and silver — the classic Hanukkah colours
• Golden menorah — warm gold candlelight on a dark night
• Starry night — a deep blue sky full of stars
• Sweet treats — bright and playful, with sufganiyot and gelt
• Blue and white — clean stripes, like a flag or a tallit
• Minimal — plain and clean, in your page's light or dark colours

Ideas for the countdown

• Family — count the sleeps with the children and get the menorah, candles and dreidels ready
• Classroom — show the board on the screen and talk about the eight nights
• Community — put it on a TV in the hall before a Hanukkah party
• Cooking — plan latkes and sufganiyot for the first night
• Gifts — make tags with Printable Gift Tags

How to use it

• Open the page — the countdown starts by itself
• Pick a style: Blue and silver, Golden menorah, Starry night, Sweet treats, Blue and white or Minimal
• Under Count down to, choose the first candle (the evening) or the first full day
• Turn the stars and the sound on or off
• Press Full screen to show it on a big screen; press Esc to go back

Frequently asked questions

How many days until Hanukkah?

The big numbers at the top of this page show it, live, on your own clock. By default they count to the evening of the first candle.

When does Hanukkah start in 2026?

Hanukkah 2026 begins at sundown on Friday, December 4, 2026, and the first full day is Saturday, December 5. The eighth candle is lit on Friday, December 11, and Hanukkah ends at nightfall on Saturday, December 12.

Why does Hanukkah start in the evening?

In the Hebrew calendar a day starts at sunset, not at midnight. So the first night of Hanukkah is the evening before the first full day, and that is when the first candle is lit.

Why is Hanukkah on a different date every year?

Hanukkah is always on 25 Kislev in the Hebrew calendar, which follows the moon and adds a leap month seven times in 19 years. On the everyday calendar it moves between late November and late December.

How many candles do I light each night?

One on the first night, two on the second, and so on up to eight on the last night — plus the shamash, the helper candle used to light the others. During Hanukkah this page tells you the number for tonight.

Is it Hanukkah or Chanukah?

Both. The Hebrew name is written in Hebrew letters, and there are several ways to spell it in English: Hanukkah, Chanukah and Hanukah are all common.

Related tools

• Christmas Countdown — days and sleeps until Christmas
• Winter Countdown — days until the first day of winter
• New Year Countdown — to midnight, with fireworks
• Chinese New Year Countdown — days until the Lunar New Year
• Countdown to Date — count down to any day
• Printable Calendar — mark the eight nights on paper