*Ø* Blogmanac January 5 | Twelfth Day Eve, or Epiphany Eve

When is Twelfth Night, January 5, or 6?
Many reputable folkloric sources say that January 5, the Eve of Epiphany (which is Twelfth Day), is the night called Twelfth Night on which great revels used to take place all over Europe. For example:

“The day before Epiphany is the twelfth day of Christmas, and is sometimes called Twelfth Night, an occasion for feasting in some cultures. In some cultures, the baking of a special King's Cake is part of the festivities of Epiphany (a King's Cake is part of the observance of Mardi Gras in French Catholic culture of the Southern USA).” Source

No less an authority than Encyclopedia.com’s article on the subject also claims the evening of January 5 as Twelfth Night.

However, according to the authoritative Sir James Frazer's The Golden Bough:

The last of the mystic twelve days is Epiphany or Twelfth Night, and it has been selected as a proper season for the expulsion of the powers of evil in various parts of Europe.
Frazer, Sir James George (1854–1941), The Golden Bough, 1922

So, to Frazer, Epiphany (January 6) is Twelfth Night. Moreover, in many places Twelfth Night is still celebrated on January 6.

Until I’m shown an authority greater than Frazer, not to mention many eminent others, such as Waverley Fitzgerald from School of the Seasons (who has a very good article on the celebration) and Robert Chambers (who calls today “Twelfth-Day Eve”), I will stick to January 6, Epiphany, as being both Twelfth Day and Twelfth Night, January 5 being the Eve of Twelfth Day/Night.

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