About FestiveHelper
A small, independent collection of free holiday tools, built to be quick, accurate and genuinely useful during the busiest weeks of the year.
What FestiveHelper is
FestiveHelper is a free website of holiday countdowns and calculators for families, friends and workplaces in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and Europe. It began with a simple frustration: almost every countdown page online is written for one particular year, and almost every Secret Santa generator will happily match somebody with their own partner. We wanted tools that are correct, that keep working, and that do not ask for an email address first.
How the dates are worked out
Every holiday on this site is calculated from its calendar rule at the moment you load the page, using the clock and time zone of your own device. Thanksgiving in the United States is the fourth Thursday of November. Thanksgiving in Canada is the second Monday of October. Black Friday is the day after US Thanksgiving and Cyber Monday is the Monday that follows. Easter uses the standard Gregorian computus. Christmas, New Year and Valentine’s Day are fixed dates, but which weekday they land on changes every year, and that is calculated too.
Because nothing is written down as a fixed date, there is no year in which the site quietly becomes wrong. When a holiday passes, the countdown rolls forward to the next one by itself.
Where the guidance comes from
The cooking and decorating advice on the site follows widely published, mainstream guidance. Turkey roasting and thawing times are based on standard food safety recommendations for whole turkeys, including the safe internal temperature of 165 °F (74 °C) measured with a thermometer. The Christmas lights figures use the common decorator guideline of around 100 lights per foot of tree height. These are estimates designed to help you plan, and we say so clearly on each page. A meat thermometer beats a calculator every time.
Your privacy
None of the tools send your information anywhere. Names in the Secret Santa generator, amounts in the gift budget calculator and weights in the turkey calculator are processed entirely inside your browser and are gone when you close the tab. The only things stored on your device are your currency preference and your cookie choice. Full detail is in our privacy policy.
How the site is paid for
FestiveHelper is free to use and is supported by advertising. Ads are clearly separated from the tools and the written guidance, and no advertiser has any say over what the calculators say or what we recommend. We do not take payment for reviews or recommendations.
Get in touch
Corrections, bug reports and requests for new tools are all welcome, and mistakes are fixed quickly when they are pointed out. The contact page has the details.
Frequently asked questions
Who runs FestiveHelper?
FestiveHelper is an independent site built and maintained by a small team of web developers who wanted holiday tools that stay accurate year after year. You can reach us through the contact page.
How accurate are the cooking times?
They follow standard published guidance for whole turkeys and are given as a range, because ovens vary. They are a planning aid, not a substitute for a meat thermometer: a turkey is safe when it reaches 165 °F (74 °C) throughout.
Can I suggest a new tool?
Yes, please do. Suggestions from visitors are the main source of new ideas for the site. Use the contact page to send one over.