As any lover of The Twelve Days of Christmas (or, for that matter, William Shakespeare) will know, the festivities continue into the New Year, with the festive season officially ending on the 5th or 6th January. There is some disagreement as to which is the correct date. Both dates seem equally valid, with January 5th making Christmas Day itself the First Day of Christmas, or January 6th as the Twelfth Day marking the arrival of the Three Kings for Epiphany.
Of course, in other traditions, such as the Greek and Russian Orthodox Churches, Christmas hasn’t even started yet, as their Christmas is on or near January 7th.
All of which is an excellent excuse for IAML (UK & Irl) to start the New Year in style with the musical librarians and readers of Leeds, who carolled their hearts out in the run-up to Christmas. Many thanks to Gilly Margrave for alerting me to Leeds Libraries very entertaining Twitter feed.
A very Happy 2018 to you all!