Medieval Tradition
This year, why not do as our medieval ancestors did and leave your festive decorations up until Candlemas on 2 February?
The theory that it’s bad luck to leave decorations up beyond Twelfth Night (around 6 January) is a modern take on the tradition, but doing so used to be normal practice in the medieval period.
Falling exactly 40 days after Christmas, Candlemas (or the Feast of the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary) was observed as the official end of Christmas in medieval England. The date itself was a great feast day and is so called because candles intended to be used in churches in the coming year would be blessed on that day. There were also candlelit processions in honour of the feast.
Read more about Christmas and Candlemas in the Middle ages on the English Heritage website.