How many days until Black Friday?

About Black Friday

Black Friday is the major retail shopping event that falls on the day after Thanksgiving in the United States, traditionally marking the unofficial start of the holiday shopping season. Its date shifts every year because it is defined relative to Thanksgiving, which itself is set as the fourth Thursday of November rather than a fixed date, so Black Friday moves in step with that formula rather than sitting on a set day and month. The name's origin is debated: one commonly cited explanation ties it to retailers' accounting practice of moving from operating at a financial loss, recorded in red ink, to a profit, recorded in black ink, once holiday sales began, though an earlier and less flattering explanation traces the term to Philadelphia police describing the chaotic pedestrian and traffic congestion the day caused in the 1950s and 1960s. In recent decades, the day has expanded well beyond a single 24-hour event, with many retailers beginning promotions days or even weeks in advance, and the emergence of Cyber Monday has extended the shopping period into the following week for online deals specifically. The tradition has also spread internationally, adopted by retailers in many countries outside the United States despite Thanksgiving itself not being observed there, illustrating how the shopping event has become somewhat detached from its original holiday context. A common misconception is assuming Black Friday is the single biggest shopping day of the year in absolute terms; while it remains hugely significant, some more recent years have seen other days, including Cyber Monday, rival or exceed it in certain sales categories, particularly online, complicating the assumption that Black Friday alone dominates the season.

Dates on this page are checked against public calendar sources. Spot something wrong? Let us know.