paganism · the seasonal calendar
Wheel of the Year: 2026 and 2027
Eight festivals, evenly spaced: four solar stations — the solstices and equinoxes, whose exact moments shift a little each year — and four cross-quarter "fire festivals" on fixed folk dates between them. The solar dates below are computed astronomically and refresh whenever this page is rebuilt, so they are never stale.
next on the wheel Samhain, Oct 31 to Nov 1
Northern Hemisphere
| Sabbat | 2026 | 2027 | Southern 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Samhain | Oct 31 – Nov 1 | Oct 31 – Nov 1 | Apr 30 – May 1 |
| Yule | Dec 21 | Dec 22 | Jun 21 |
| Imbolc | Feb 1 – 2 | Feb 1 – 2 | Aug 1 – 2 |
| Ostara | Mar 20 | Mar 20 | Sep 23 |
| Beltane | Apr 30 – May 1 | Apr 30 – May 1 | Oct 31 – Nov 1 |
| Litha | Jun 21 | Jun 21 | Dec 21 |
| Lammas | Aug 1 | Aug 1 | Feb 1 |
| Mabon | Sep 23 | Sep 23 | Mar 20 |
Southern Hemisphere practice shifts each festival six months to match local seasons — the last column shows the common Southern date. Exact solar moments (UTC), 2026: spring equinox Mar 20, 14:46 UTC · summer solstice Jun 21, 08:26 UTC · autumn equinox Sep 23, 00:06 UTC · winter solstice Dec 21, 20:51 UTC.
An honest word on origins
No ancient culture kept this exact eight-spoke calendar. The Wheel was popularized in the mid-1960s within Wicca and modern Druidry, drawing on real antiquity: Samhain, Imbolc, Beltane and Lughnasadh are old Gaelic seasonal festivals; Yule is Germanic midwinter; and the names Ostara, Litha and Mabon were attached to the solar holidays in the modern era — Mabon as late as 1974, by Wiccan writer Aidan Kelly. Knowing this changes nothing about the pleasure of marking seasons; it only keeps the candles honest.
The older sources show people who lived close to weather and livestock. The Gaelic year turned on Samhain and Beltane, the doors between the dark half and the light half. In Anglo-Saxon England the early August feast was Lammas, "loaf-mass", when bread from the new wheat was blessed. The Venerable Bede, writing in the eighth century, mentions a spring goddess Eostre, and that single line is the thin root of the name Ostara. Gerald Gardner, Doreen Valiente and the early Wiccan covens joined these pieces into one symmetrical circle.
In short
Four of the festivals are old Gaelic feast days, the solstices and equinoxes have been noticed by nearly every culture, and the neat eight-part wheel is a twentieth-century synthesis. You can love it without pretending it is older than it is.
Solar festivals and fire festivals
The wheel has two layers laid over each other. The solar festivals (sometimes called quarter days) follow the sky: the two solstices, when the Sun reaches its highest or lowest point at noon, and the two equinoxes, when day and night are close to equal. Their dates drift by a day or so from year to year, which is why the table above is recalculated. The fire festivals (cross-quarter days) sit roughly halfway between them and follow the farm rather than the sky. They traditionally kept fixed folk dates and were marked with bonfires, which is where the name comes from.
| Solar festivals | Fire festivals | |
|---|---|---|
| Festivals | Yule, Ostara, Litha, Mabon | Samhain, Imbolc, Beltane, Lughnasadh |
| Timing | Solstices and equinoxes, computed each year | Fixed folk dates near the first of the month |
| Older roots | Widely observed turning points of the Sun | Gaelic pastoral and harvest calendar |
| Mood | Balance, light and dark, the Sun's journey | Thresholds, community, fire and the land |
The eight festivals, one by one
Below, each spoke of the wheel with its meaning, traditional colours and foods, one ritual that takes less than half an hour, and a journal prompt. Each name links to a fuller page with history and more ideas.
Samhain (about October 31)
The Gaelic new year and the start of the dark half, when the boundary with the dead was felt to be thin. Colours: black, deep orange, plum. Foods: apples, pumpkin, root vegetables, soul cakes. Ritual: light one candle at dinner, say aloud the names of people you have lost, and set out a small portion of food for them. Prompt: what am I ready to let die back this winter?
Yule (winter solstice)
The longest night, after which the days begin to lengthen. Colours: red, evergreen, gold, white. Foods: oranges studded with cloves, spiced cider, gingerbread, anything slow-roasted. Ritual: sit for ten minutes in a fully dark room, then light a single candle and notice how much one flame changes. Prompt: what small light carried me through this year?
Imbolc (about February 1)
The first stirring of spring under frozen ground, tied to lambing and to Brigid, keeper of hearth, poetry and healing. Colours: white, pale yellow, soft green. Foods: milk, butter, fresh bread, seeds, honey. Ritual: clean one corner of your home thoroughly, then light a white candle there. Our guide to cleansing your space has gentle methods. Prompt: what is quietly waking in me?
Ostara (spring equinox)
Day and night in balance, with light gaining. Colours: pastel green, primrose, lilac. Foods: eggs, sprouts, spring greens, seeded bread. Ritual: plant a few seeds in a pot on the windowsill and name one intention for each. Prompt: where do I want more balance between effort and rest?
Beltane (about May 1)
The door to the light half, a festival of fertility, flowers and bonfires between which cattle were driven for protection. Colours: red, white, fresh green. Foods: honey, oatcakes, strawberries, elderflower drinks. Ritual: gather a few flowers, weave them with ribbon, and tie a written wish to a branch. The birth flowers pages suggest blooms with meaning. Prompt: what makes me feel most alive in my body?
Litha (summer solstice)
Midsummer, the Sun at its height and the longest day. Colours: gold, sunflower yellow, sky blue. Foods: berries, fresh salads, honey cakes, herbs picked that morning. Ritual: watch the sunrise or the sunset outdoors and list three things you are proud of so far this year. Prompt: what is in full bloom in my life right now?
Lughnasadh or Lammas (about August 1)
The first harvest: grain cut, bread baked, fairs and games held in honour of Lugh. Colours: wheat gold, bronze, deep green. Foods: a loaf of bread, corn, blackberries, new potatoes. Ritual: bake or buy a good loaf, break it with someone, and name one thing each of you has worked hard for. Prompt: what have I sown that is ready to gather now?
Mabon (autumn equinox)
The second harvest and a second moment of balance, with the dark now gaining. Colours: russet, burgundy, brown. Foods: apples, squash, nuts, red wine or grape juice. Ritual: write a list of twenty things you are grateful for, then one thing you will stop carrying. The gratitude ritual gives a fuller shape. Prompt: what do I keep, and what do I release, before winter?
A tip
You do not need an altar. One seasonal object on a windowsill (a gourd, a sprig of holly, a jar of wildflowers), changed eight times a year, does the same work.
Southern Hemisphere dates
The wheel follows the seasons, not the calendar, so in Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and South America most practitioners shift every festival by six months. Samhain falls around April 30 to May 1, when the leaves are actually turning, and Beltane around October 31, when blossom is out. Yule becomes the June solstice and Litha the December one. The "Southern 2026" column in the table above shows these dates. Some keep the northern calendar for community reasons; either choice is valid, but the shifted wheel matches the weather outside your window.
The wheel and the moon
In modern pagan practice the sabbats are the Sun's festivals, and the monthly moon gatherings are called esbats, usually held at the full moon. There are twelve or thirteen full moons a year and eight sabbats, so the two rhythms weave in and out of each other. A simple way to combine them: use the sabbat to set the theme of the season, then use the new moon that follows for an intention and the full moon for review. Our moon calendar and 2026 moon phases show exactly when each phase falls, and the new moon ritual and full moon ritual pages give simple scripts. For a quieter approach, read moon rituals for rest and reflection.
Celebrating gently, with or without religion
If you practise a pagan path
The sabbats may carry deity work, circle casting and coven gatherings. Our overview of Wicca explains how the wheel sits within that tradition and how practice differs between groups.
If you are not religious
Treat each festival as a seasonal check-in: cook one seasonal meal, take one walk, write one page. Nothing to believe, only something to notice. Many secular families already keep versions of these days as harvest suppers or midsummer picnics.
How to use it
Pick the festivals that fit your climate and temperament — many people keep just Samhain and Beltane, the year's two hinges — and celebrate at the scale of a kitchen: seasonal food, a candle, a short list of what you're releasing or planting. Our gentle rituals shelf and the moon calendar pair well with any spoke of the wheel.
A year of small rituals
To try the whole wheel without it becoming another to-do list, plan about an hour per festival.
- Put the dates in your calendar now. Copy the eight dates from the table, with a reminder three days before so you can buy a candle or an ingredient.
- Start a wheel notebook. One spread per festival: the date, the weather, what is growing, and your answer to that festival's prompt. Our journaling prompts for self-discovery add depth if a prompt feels thin.
- Draw one card at each sabbat. Pull a card of the day and read it as the message for the coming six weeks, not just for today.
- Add one rune for the season. The runes come from the same northern world as Yule; pick one whose meaning fits the season and draw it on your candle.
- Cook one seasonal dish. Eating what is in season is the oldest form of this practice.
- Light a candle with intention. Our candle ritual explains colours and safe practice, and it takes five minutes.
- Review the year at Samhain. Read back through all eight entries. That record is the real gift of the wheel.
For a personal layer, see what your own birth date says across astrology, numerology and tarot on everything about you, then notice which season you were born into and how that festival feels to you.
The cat observes every seasonal ritual from the warmest available surface: "The wheel turns. The radiator remains."
We tell the Wheel's history straight: the eight-sabbat cycle is a modern construction woven from genuinely old festivals. That honesty subtracts nothing from a good bonfire.