With the holiday season quickly approaching, the age-old question has arisen again: how long is it acceptable to leave Christmas decor up after Christmas?

When it takes such a large amount of time and effort to put up Christmas decorations, from lights hung on the house to a fully decorated Christmas tree, who wants to take all that joy down and accept that the year is coming to an end?
In a survey posted on The Sting’s Instagram account, 8 people said that they leave their Christmas tree up until mid-January, with the second highest response being 6 votes or leaving a Christmas tree up through the new year.

“I believe that trees/lights and decorations aren’t just a symbol for exclusively Christmas,” senior Makayla Dorris said. “Lights and trees also represent the winter seasons and the joy the holidays bring! So why not keep a beautiful tree and some lights up through February? It’s fun and makes me happy so why not?”

In the survey, 47% of the participants said no to the question about leaving lights and Christmas trees left up after December. An honorable mention is that some people don’t even put up lights or the traditional Christmas tree to celebrate the holiday.

“if you leave it up too long, it’s like you’re hanging onto the last vestiges of the last year, and the new year is about moving past it,” sophomore Eyvindr Lefever said. “Taking down the decor is like accepting the new year and pushing past the old.”

There is also the 12 days of Christmas tradition that starts on Dec. 25 and lasts until Jan. 6. During the 12 days, the Christmas tree is supposed to be left up. Then, Christmas decorations are allowed to be put away. On the 12th day, king cake is served to celebrate, three kings are said to have actually made it to see baby Jesus. Which is why the dessert is called “king” cake. The baby inside of the cake is supposed to represent baby Jesus.

Personally, I leave my Christmas tree up until New Year’s Eve, but my Christmas lights stay until mid-January. There is so much work that goes into putting the decorations up, so I like to enjoy them for a while.