It has become a yearly tradition for singer Mariah Carey to release a promotional video for her song “All I Want for Christmas Is You.” In previous years, her cinematic videos have shown Halloween decor with the dates of October flying past, until October 31st, where Mariah sings, in a whistle tone, “ It’s time!” for her halloween decorations to flutter away and a festive wonderland to surround her.

For some the holiday season begins on November 1st at 12:00am, and marks the closure of Halloween. But does that ruin the festive magic? Do the holidays lasting two months dilute the festive feeling? The Panther Post asked Cypress Lake’s very own Gary Stroh, our Choir teacher and Christmas lover at this high school. Mr. Stroh told the Post, “I love Christmas as much as the next person, but the timeline for people decorating and celebrating has gotten out of hand.  Let’s start the Christmas festivities the day after Thanksgiving. That gives everyone a good solid month of Christmas Cheer. If you hit me with that before, I’m going to be the biggest Scrooge.”

The Panther Post polled over 100 students and found that 46% of students believe that Christmas begins on November 1st with Freshman Sophie Millar telling the post that she believes Christmas starts on Nov. 1st  when “Mariah Carey puts up her Christmas video.”  37% believe it starts after Thanksgiving, showing that there is a definite divide between the two groups. The other 18% had a variety of opinions on when to start the holiday season.

So, is Christmas creeping too early in our calendar? Or are the holidays starting at the right time? I asked CLHS student, and Panther Post contributor Kayla Ferrence to join in the debate on if Christmas is coming too early. 

Kayla: So I think that Christmas usually begins as soon as Halloween ends, because I feel like Christmas is more about the feeling or the vibes. When you decorate for Halloween, you’re decorating for all of fall, and it’s the same principle for Christmas. Christmas decorations are for the whole season.  During Thanksgiving, you’re just eating. Christmas is spread out.

Carter: My main issue is that the Christmas vibe gets, like, diluted when you stretch the holiday season over a month. We’re taking a holiday that used to be a single day, then we turned it into a whole week, and then the whole month, and now two months?!? When does it end! I understand that Thanksgiving could not hold her back.
Halloween is the only thing holding her back from Christmas beginning August 1st.

Kayla: Yeah, I get that. I get that some people might get tired of the festivities after a while, and I understand that at the end of the day, it depends on the household. If you feel more about Thanksgiving than you do about Christmas, then decorate, put a cornucopia up I guess…

Carter: Yeah, and I understand that Thanksgiving is not this cornerstone holiday. It’s not the biggest holiday, and it’s not nearly as big as Christmas, but, like, it seems like a marker of when the season begins. 

So… what do you think? Does the holiday season begin too early? Tell us what you think below!