Chloe Miller

Villanova students posed for a photo op with Santa during last year’s Winter Village.

In the famous words of Mariah Carey, “It’s time.” That’s right, it’s about time to start debating that age-old holiday question once again. With the official end of eventful Halloween celebrations and the start of November, some students are fully ready to get “the most wonderful time of the year” started, while others are a bit more hesitant.

There are two kinds of people when it comes to the start of the holiday season. The first is the person who strictly waits until after Thanksgiving dinner to start the festivities. The second is the person who, like Carey, emerges with Christmas spirit on Nov. 1 after counting down the seconds until midnight on Halloween (I must admit, I am guilty).

Where do Villanova students stand on when is the perfect time to start celebrating? It is a tough decision for many, but students seem to be full of passionate opinions when it comes to this heated debate. When is it truly the “right time to rock the night away?”

“As soon as the clock hits midnight on Halloween, it is a great time to start celebrating Christmas,” freshman Ean Steidle said.

“It’s hard because I love Thanksgiving, but the Christmas season deserves to be more than a month,” freshman Olivia Farrell said. She ultimately settled on the day after Thanksgiving as her answer.

“But I do secretly listen to Christmas music, now, sometimes,” Farrell said.

It seems that the main reasoning given by students who support the Nov. 24 theory is the idea that Thanksgiving also deserves to have its own month. Freshman Dorothy McCarthy wholeheartedly agrees with this timeline.

“I think that the day after Thanksgiving is the perfect day to start celebrating Christmas because it gives each holiday its time to shine,” McCarthy said.

Though many only consider it to be the holiday season when Thanksgiving ends and December begins, the U.S. is trending towards an earlier start to the festivities. In 2022, 56% of consumers reported they planned to begin their holiday shopping in October, up from 45% in 2021, according to statista.com.

As mentioned early on, I personally counted the days to Nov. 1. I consider it the first day I can officially listen to Christmas music and look forward to the holidays. I also grew up watching the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, however, and getting even more into the Christmas spirit when Santa “officially” kicked the season off at the end of the parade.

The debate surrounding the most acceptable moment to start celebrating Christmas is a timeworn battle, and the opinionated thoughts of Villanova students are clearly no exception.

Last year, the first on-campus Christmas event held by the University (the Jazz Band Holiday Concert) took place on Nov. 30, seemingly taking the side of the post-Thanksgiving contingent. In addition to the first official Christmas event, decorations are a big to-do in declaring when the holiday season officially starts on campus.

Many consider the tree lighting the true start of the holiday season. Others consider Christmas to start when Villanova starts to decorate their buildings.

One great example of this phenomenon is at Donahue Hall on South Campus. Each year in early November, this dining hall commonly regarded at Spit hangs up their holiday decorations. Many refer to these decorations as, “Spitmas”. Oftentimes, many regard “Spitmas” each year as the official start of the holiday season.

“I look forward to Spitmas every year,” junior Jane Maleady said. “I love seeing all the holiday decorations up and to me, it feels like the start of the Christmas season.”

No matter where one stands on this controversial issue, the holiday season is approaching quickly and will be an exciting time on campus, regardless of when one chooses to start decking the halls.