I had this discussion with Fr. recently. It technically ends at sundown on the feast of Baptism of the Lord. Then beginning with Monday, it is Ordinary Time.

Since (cravenly) the Solemnity of the Epiphany has in many places been moved to the nearest Sunday, insouciant havoc has been played with the millenial twelve days of Christmas. While lamenting yet another example of cultural loss foisted off on us by the 'I can't go to mass, even a solemnity, on a week day' crowd (and the 'dear me, we mustn't ask them to' bishops), we can take some pleasure in the resulting longer Christmastide. Not now limited to twelve days, we have several months of Christmastide ending on Purification. So, now you can't take your tree down until 2nd February, and you have to make all that candy and fruitcake last for six weeks, and you have to be thankful, prayerful and merry for the whole forty days of Christmas!

Alright, Baptism it is. Christmas hath, then, fewer than forty but more than twelve days of natal merriment, the last day being 'a moveable feast'. Our current Christmas has nineteen days in which to give one's true love presents.

OK... the length of days may differ with each of you, but we ALL celebrate the Nativity of the Lord! So, for as long as you can stretch the celebration, DO IT!!!! Because the feast day certainly deserves every moment you can scrape together for the occasion.

Interesting info about Candlemas being the end of the Christmas season:
http://www.hymnsandcarolsofchristmas.com/History/candlemas.htm

In "Upon Candlemas Day," Herrick wrote:

"END now the white loaf and the pie,
And let all sports with Christmas die."

At least for the Ordinary Form, it ends with Baptism of the Lord. I would also be in favor of the church extending Christmastide until Candlemas, but what can you do? I would also favor the feast of Candlemas being celebrated during our existing Christmastide over the Baptism.

Today is the Octave day of Christmas, but we also have the 12 days of Christmas! so our celebrations can go on for a few days more!

Also we have the (former) octave of the Epiphany, so we have another week. This would end on the Octave day of the Epiphany, also known as the Baptism of our Lord.

We would usually sing Christmas music until the vigil of the Epiphany, then we would sing Epiphany music during the Octave.

The Second Sunday after Epiphany WAS at one time the Feast of The Holy Name, so why not sing Jesu Dulcis etc. We usually sing things in honour of The Holy Name.

The Third Sunday after Epiphany WAS in some places the Feast of the Holy Family so why not some of the Hymns to the Holy Family, O lux beata...

Of course the Season of Christmas ends on the Feast of Candlemas, and this year Deo gratis this falls on a Sunday after Epiphany rather than in Septuagesima, so we can all enjoy this Feast on a Sunday!

The Feast of the Flight into Egypt is a aliquibus locis (this was celebrated in England!) on the 17th of February. So perhaps we can enjoy our Christmas a few days more! well at least until the season of Septuagesima starts!

Yes, on January 3.

Christmastide ends with second vespers on Baptism of the Lord. Then commences the first week per annum or of ordinary [ordinally counted] time. The next Sunday is the Sunday of the second such week of time. It's the weeks that are counted, not the Sundays as such, so the shorthand that's come into English usage is misleading.

Not unless Christmas is running through until February these days. :-)

Great existential question, Andrew! Dunno the answer save for he learns quite quickly not to fall into the icy pothole everytime Ned accosts him on the street!

The great unspoken-of aspect of this-I believe carols should be retired at Epiphany though. (Running away from any vegetables or cows lobbed my way.)

Read the blessing of the groundhog on Candlemas in "The Cantor Wore Crinolines." They combined two holidays into, "St. Groundelmas." Hilarious!

A good translation of Christ, unser Herr, zum Jordan kam is good for baptism, and would work well with Winchester New. Also there is the office hymn for II Vespers of Baptism of the Lord: Implente munus debitum, with an outstanding English translation by our forum friend, the anonymous MHI (look it up on previous threads from June and July). Number 296 of The Hymnal 1982 is also good, sung to Engleberg.

How appropriate is "On Jordan's Bank?" I have heard it used on the Baptism of the Lord before but didn't know if it fit or not.

On Jordan's Bank is very appropriate, I'd say.

I used to use it for the Baptism of the Lord, but since we got Worship IV there is a nice text in there set to the same tune called "When Jesus Came to be Baptized," which, you know, seemed even more appropriate.

Thank you, Father. I did indeed mean "to Jordan Jesus humbly came." I think the one I erroneously mentioned is an actual ocp text that is not very good but whose title stuck with me.

It's also in the Canadian hymnal CBWIII

From 2009: Christmas is over at the Vatican, noting a change in practice which occurred in that year.

I usually do 'Of the Father's heart begotten' on the Baptism.

My Byzantine friends tell me it is not good form to leave my Christmas tree up beyond the beginning of Lent. My tree is something of a joke with them, anyway. I take it out of the box, fold the branches down, and plug it in - it is already decorated. Putting it away is just the reverse.

YES!!!! It goes well with the plastic reindeer.

The USCCB calendar is green for January 13th. Looks like my Nativity will come down on Sunday night and the ornaments replaced with hearts for St.Valentine's Day, then replaced by shamrocks for St. Patrick's Day. Oh.......forgot the "He is Risen" ornaments for Easter!!!