Hands off Christmas! Why over-60s refuse to deck the halls early

This week marks just 100 days until Christmas and apparently that’s more than close enough for some Australians to start decking the halls.

Christmas stock is already appearing in stores and younger Australians are increasingly getting the decorations out early, but new research suggests those aged 65 and over aren’t nearly as keen to rush the festive season.

A nationally representative survey commissioned by Christmas décor company Balsam Hill found more than half of Australians aged under 45 usually put up their decorations before December.

Among those aged 65 and over, that figure falls to just 29 per cent, and while one in five Australians under 45 say they now start celebrating Christmas earlier than they did five years ago, only four per cent of over-65s say they’ve shifted their festive timetable.

December, it seems, still means something.

Christmas keeps creeping forward

Across all age groups, 42.6 per cent of Australian adults who celebrate Christmas say they usually decorate before December, equivalent to about 8.8 million people.

November is comfortably the most popular early starting point. But there are some seriously enthusiastic Christmas fans out there: 1.4 per cent of Australians surveyed — estimated at almost 280,000 people — start decorating in September or even earlier.

Sydney content creator Bronte Rose is among those embracing the earlier start, putting up her decorations in early October last year.

“I decorated earlier than usual last year because I wanted more time to enjoy the festive season,” Rose said. “Christmas decorating takes time and effort, so it felt like a great way to make the most of everything we’d put together rather than only enjoying it for a few weeks.

“Having the decorations up made the house feel happier and gave me something lovely to look forward to as the year wound down.”

So why are we starting earlier?

The survey suggests there’s more going on than an outbreak of Christmas enthusiasm.

Some 43 per cent believe people start early because they want something joyful to look forward to, while 31 per cent say it’s about making the festive feeling last longer.

Another 30 per cent believe the increasingly early arrival of Christmas in shops and advertising is influencing when Australians start celebrating.

Practicality plays a part too. More than a quarter believe people decorate early to avoid the last-minute Christmas rush, while one in four point to spreading the cost of the festive season.

Remember when Christmas waited its turn?

For many older Australians, Christmas once had a much shorter runway. The decorations came out in December, the tree went up, cards started arriving in the letterbox and the countdown properly began.

Now the Christmas aisle can appear while we’re barely out of winter.

The figures suggest younger Australians are increasingly happy to stretch the festive season, while their parents and grandparents remain much more likely to wait.

The Balsam Hill research was conducted by independent consumer research agency Antenna, which surveyed 1,089 Australians in July 2026. The data was weighted for representation against the 2021 Australian Census.

What about you? When does the Christmas tree go up at your place? And is September far too early?