Holiday Countdown Widget
Pick a holiday and the countdown finds its next date by rule - Easter by the church computus, Thanksgiving as the fourth Thursday of November - so it never needs a new year typed in, and says "It's Christmas Day today!" when the day arrives.
Live preview
Under the widget on your page: Powered by A2Z Tools
Embed code
<iframe src="https://a2z.tools/embed/w/holiday-countdown" title="Holiday Countdown by A2Z Tools" width="100%" height="310" style="border:0;width:100%" loading="lazy" allow="clipboard-write"></iframe>
A plain iframe. Works everywhere, including site builders that strip scripts. Adjust height if your content needs more room.
<div data-a2z-widget="holiday-countdown" data-height="310"></div> <script async src="https://a2z.tools/embed.js"></script>
Adds a small script (what it does) that sizes the widget to fit its content, loads it lazily and keeps it isolated from your page's CSS.
Works with
How it works
Choose one of 17 presets or a custom date. Fixed dates are simple: Christmas 25 December, New Year 1 January, Valentine's Day 14 February, Halloween 31 October, US Independence Day 4 July, Bonfire Night 5 November, Australia Day 26 January. Moving dates are computed: Western Easter Sunday with the Meeus/Jones/Butcher Gregorian computus (28 March 2027, 16 April 2028); US Thanksgiving as the fourth Thursday of November under 5 U.S.C. 6103 (26 November 2026), Black Friday the day after and Cyber Monday four days after; US Mother's Day the second Sunday of May (36 U.S.C. 117) and Father's Day the third Sunday of June (36 U.S.C. 109); UK Mothering Sunday three weeks before Easter (7 March 2027); Australian Father's Day the first Sunday of September. Chinese New Year follows the Hong Kong Observatory's lunar conversion tables for 2026-2040. The countdown runs to midnight at the start of the day in each visitor's own zone, or in one IANA zone you set; on the day itself it shows "It's ... today!" and the next morning moves on to next year.
Method
- Easter (Meeus/Jones/Butcher): a = Y mod 19, b = Y div 100, c = Y mod 100, d = b div 4, e = b mod 4, f = (b + 8) div 25, g = (b - f + 1) div 3, h = (19a + b - d - g + 15) mod 30, i = c div 4, k = c mod 4, l = (32 + 2e + 2i - h - k) mod 7, m = (a + 11h + 22l) div 451; month = (h + l - 7m + 114) div 31; day = (h + l - 7m + 114) mod 31 + 1
- n-th weekday of a month: day = 1 + (weekday - weekday of the 1st + 7) mod 7 + 7(n - 1)
- Black Friday = Thanksgiving + 1 day; Cyber Monday = Thanksgiving + 4 days; Mothering Sunday = Easter Sunday - 21 days
- Next occurrence = this year's date if it is today or later, else next year's; time left = local midnight of that date - now
Worked examples
Christmas from Christmas Eve
Inputs: Holiday christmas; zone Europe/London; now 24 Dec 2026 00:00 UTC
Result: 1 day, 00 hours, 00 minutes, 00 seconds; date Friday, 25 December 2026 (en-GB)
London is on GMT in December, so 00:00 UTC is local midnight.
Thanksgiving 2026
Inputs: Holiday thanksgiving-us; zone America/New_York; now 25 Nov 2026 05:00 UTC (midnight Eastern)
Result: 1 day to Thursday, November 26, 2026
1 November 2026 is a Sunday, so the Thursdays are the 5th, 12th, 19th and 26th.
Easter after Thanksgiving
Inputs: Holiday easter; today 1 Oct 2026
Result: Next date Sunday 28 March 2027
Easter 2026 (5 April) has passed, so the computus is run for 2027.
Limitations
- Western (Gregorian) Easter only; Orthodox Easter, Diwali, Eid and other lunar or lunisolar dates are not computed (see the Ramadan Countdown for Ramadan).
- Chinese New Year is limited to the dated table, 2026-2040.
- It counts to the calendar date, not to substitute bank-holiday Mondays when a holiday falls at a weekend.
- A visitor with a wrong device clock sees a wrong time left.
Where publishers use it
- A gift shop's home page counting down to Christmas Day, with the full date in the visitor's language
- A US retailer's deals page counting to Black Friday and, from the Saturday, to Cyber Monday
- A florist running Mothering Sunday in the UK and Mother's Day in the US and Australia from the same site
- A school newsletter page counting to the Easter holidays' Easter Sunday
- A Chinese restaurant's site counting to Chinese New Year for its banquet menu
Questions
How is Easter calculated?
With the Meeus/Jones/Butcher algorithm for the Gregorian calendar, which implements the Western church rule: the first Sunday after the ecclesiastical full moon on or after 21 March. It gives 20 April 2025, 5 April 2026, 28 March 2027, 16 April 2028, 1 April 2029 and 21 April 2030 - matching GOV.UK's Easter Monday bank holidays of 29 March 2027 and 17 April 2028. Orthodox Easter uses the Julian calendar and is not included.
Why is Mother's Day different in the UK?
The UK's Mothering Sunday is the fourth Sunday of Lent, exactly three weeks before Easter Sunday, so it moves with Easter: 15 March 2026, 7 March 2027, 26 March 2028. The US (36 U.S.C. 117) and Australia keep the second Sunday of May: 10 May 2026, 9 May 2027.
When is Thanksgiving, and how are Black Friday and Cyber Monday set?
US Thanksgiving is the fourth Thursday of November under 5 U.S.C. 6103: 27 November 2025, 26 November 2026, 25 November 2027, 23 November 2028. Black Friday is the next day and Cyber Monday the Monday after, which can fall in December - 1 December 2025 and 2 December 2030.
Which time zone does it count to?
By default midnight in each visitor's own zone, because holidays begin at local midnight. Set an IANA zone such as America/New_York when you mean one moment for everyone - for example a sale that opens at midnight Eastern time on Black Friday.
Why does Chinese New Year stop in 2040?
The lunar new year depends on astronomical new moons and solar terms, so instead of an approximation the widget uses the Hong Kong Observatory's published conversion tables for 2026-2040 (17 February 2026, 6 February 2027, 26 January 2028). After 2040 it shows a message until the table is extended from the same source.
How is this different from the Countdown Timer?
The Countdown Timer counts to one date and time you type. This widget picks the next date of a named holiday by rule each year, so an embed added in 2026 still counts to the right Easter or Thanksgiving in 2029 without editing, and it shows the legal or official basis for the date.
Sources
- 5 U.S. Code 6103 - Holidays - Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School . Lists New Year's Day (1 January), Independence Day (4 July), Thanksgiving Day (the fourth Thursday in November) and Christmas Day (25 December) as legal public holidays. Checked 2026-10-01.
- 36 U.S. Code 117 - Mother's Day - Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School . "The second Sunday in May is Mother's Day." Checked 2026-10-01.
- 36 U.S. Code 109 - Father's Day - Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School . "The third Sunday in June is Father's Day." Checked 2026-10-01.
- The Date of Easter - US Naval Observatory . States the ecclesiastical rule (first Sunday after the ecclesiastical full moon on or after 21 March; Easter between 22 March and 25 April) and publishes an integer algorithm. Checked 2026-10-01.
- UK bank holidays - GOV.UK . Easter Monday 29 March 2027 and 17 April 2028, used to cross-check the Easter Sunday calculation; Christmas Day and Boxing Day. Checked 2026-10-01.
- Public holidays - NSW Government . Australia Day on 26 January (Monday 26 January 2026, Tuesday 26 January 2027). Checked 2026-10-01.
- Gregorian-Lunar Calendar Conversion Table - Hong Kong Observatory . Yearly tables giving the first day of the 1st lunar month, used for Chinese New Year 2026-2040. Checked 2026-10-01; extend the table before 2040.
Cite or recommend this tool
If you reference this tool in an article, course or documentation, these formats are ready to copy. They are optional - nothing is added to your site unless you paste it.
A2Z Tools Holiday Countdown https://a2z.tools/embed/holiday-countdown
<a href="https://a2z.tools/embed/holiday-countdown">A2Z Tools Holiday Countdown</a>
[A2Z Tools Holiday Countdown](https://a2z.tools/embed/holiday-countdown)
Holiday Countdown by A2Z Tools - https://a2z.tools/embed/holiday-countdown
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