When Is Black Friday?
Black Friday 2026 is on Friday, November 27 — in 22 days. It is always the day after Thanksgiving (fourth Thursday in November).
Updated · By the YearlyCalendar.org team
Black Friday is the day after Thanksgiving and the traditional start of the US holiday shopping season. It is not a federal holiday, although some employers and state governments give the day off.
November 2026 calendar
Black Friday is marked on Friday, November 27, 2026, along with the other US federal holidays and observances of the month.
- Federal holiday / day off
- Observance
- Weekend
November 2026 – Black Friday 2026
| Wk | SundaySun | MondayMon | TuesdayTue | WednesdayWed | ThursdayThu | FridayFri | SaturdaySat |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 45 | 1Daylight saving time ends | 2 | 3Election Day | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
| 46 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11Veterans Day | 12 | 13 | 14 |
| 47 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 |
| 48 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26Thanksgiving Day | 27Black Friday | 28 |
| 49 | 29 | 30Cyber Monday |
Black Friday dates 2020–2040
Between 2020 and 2040, Black Friday falls as early as November 23 (2029, 2035, 2040) and as late as November 29 (2024, 2030). It is always a Friday.
Where the name comes from
The earliest known use of "Black Friday" for the day after Thanksgiving is from a November 1951 article in Factory Management and Maintenance, about the high rate of worker absences on that day.
The shopping sense comes from Philadelphia. A December 1961 issue of Public Relations News reported that the city's police called the Friday and Saturday after Thanksgiving "Black Friday" and "Black Saturday" because of the traffic jams and crowds of shoppers, and local reporters picked up the term in the early 1960s. Merchants disliked it and tried to promote "Big Friday" instead.
Is Black Friday a day off?
- It is not a federal holiday; federal offices, Federal Reserve Banks and post offices are open, and federal employees who want the day off must take leave.
- Some states give state employees the day off; California, for example, lists the day after Thanksgiving as a state holiday.
- The New York Stock Exchange closes early at 1:00 PM ET, and SIFMA recommends a 2:00 PM ET bond-market close.
The Thanksgiving shopping weekend
Black Friday opens a long shopping weekend that ends with Cyber Monday, the Monday after Thanksgiving. In 2026, Black Friday is Friday, November 27, 2026 and Cyber Monday is Monday, November 30, 2026.
Sources
Frequently asked questions
When is Black Friday 2027?
Black Friday 2027 is on Friday, November 26, 2027.
Does the name come from stores getting "in the black"?
No. The idea that stores move from losses ("in the red") to profit ("in the black") that day does not appear until the 1980s, decades after Philadelphia police and reporters were using the term for traffic and crowds.
Was there an earlier Black Friday?
Yes. Before it described the day after Thanksgiving, "Black Friday" was used for financial panics, including those of 1869 and 1873.
Who named Cyber Monday?
Shop.org, the online-retail arm of the National Retail Federation, introduced the name in 2005 for the Monday after Thanksgiving, citing a survey in which most online retailers reported sales increases that day.