All Saints' Day is a Christian feast day held on 1 November that honours every saint of the Church, both the famous and the forgotten. In 2026 it falls on Sunday 1 November, the day straight after Halloween. It is also known as All Hallows' Day or Hallowmas, and it is the quiet, candlelit heart of the three days the Church sets aside each autumn to remember the dead.
If you have ever wondered why Halloween is called Halloween, the answer is right here. The word is a worn-down version of "All Hallows' Eve", the evening before this holy day. So the spooky night, the saints' feast and the day of remembrance that follows are not separate, unrelated dates. They are one connected season, and once you see how they fit together the whole end of October makes a lot more sense.
When is All Saints' Day in 2026?
All Saints' Day is fixed on 1 November every year, so in 2026 it lands on a Sunday. It is not a public holiday in the United Kingdom, so shops, banks and offices keep their normal Sunday hours. For Roman Catholics it is a holy day of obligation, which traditionally means attending Mass and setting aside ordinary work, while many Anglican and other churches mark it on the day itself or on the nearest Sunday.
The date sits in the middle of a tidy three-day sequence:
31 October, Halloween – All Hallows' Eve, the vigil before the feast.
1 November, All Saints' Day – honouring all the saints in heaven.
2 November, All Souls' Day – praying for everyone who has died.
Together these three days are sometimes called Allhallowtide. Halloween gets all the attention now, but historically it was the least important of the trio, simply the evening before the main event.
What is All Saints' Day, and why do we celebrate it?
The day commemorates all the saints and martyrs of Christian history, known and unknown alike. The thinking behind it is practical as much as spiritual. The Church recognises far more holy men and women than there are days in the year, and countless faithful people lived saintly lives without ever being formally canonised. All Saints' Day is the single date that gathers every one of them into one celebration, so that nobody who reached heaven is left out.
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For believers it is a hopeful, even joyful, day rather than a sombre one. It points towards the idea of a great company of saints who have already finished the journey, and it invites the living to keep them in mind. Candle-lighting, a dedicated "book of remembrance" with the names of departed loved ones, and homilies on the theme of resurrection are all common. In some parishes families hold festive All Saints' parties where children dress up as their favourite saint, which in parts of the world doubles as a gentler alternative to Halloween.
A short history of All Saints' Day
Setting aside a day to honour martyrs is an old Christian custom that goes back to at least the 4th century. The early feast did not start on 1 November at all. In 609 Pope Boniface IV dedicated the ancient Roman Pantheon as a church in honour of the Blessed Virgin Mary and all martyrs, and a feast of all martyrs was kept in mid-May.
A still November evening at home, with a candle lit for someone you are remembering, is exactly the kind of quiet night our cosy onesies were made for.
The 1 November date appears later. Pope Gregory III, who reigned from 731 to 741, dedicated a chapel in St Peter's in Rome on 1 November in honour of all the saints, and the festival was broadened to include not just martyrs but all holy men and women. In 837 Pope Gregory IV ordered that the day be observed across the Church. In medieval England the festival was known simply as All Hallows, which is exactly why its eve still carries the name we know today. According to Encyclopaedia Britannica, the festival had already appeared in a 9th-century English calendar on 1 November, so it has been part of the British year for well over a thousand years.
All Saints' Day, All Souls' Day and Halloween: what is the difference?
These three are easy to mix up, so here is the simple version. Halloween, on 31 October, is the eve of the feast, the night before. All Saints' Day, on 1 November, celebrates the saints already in heaven. All Souls' Day, on 2 November, is set aside to pray for everyone who has died, especially the ordinary faithful rather than the canonised saints.
All Souls' grew up slightly separately. It was Odilo, Abbot of Cluny in France, who around 998 fixed a specific day for praying for the dead, and the custom spread through the Church over the following century. In Mexico and much of Latin America these days merge into the Day of the Dead, when families visit graves, bring photographs and leave out food and flowers. According to the BBC's religion pages, the Office of the Dead, a prayer dating back to the 7th or 8th century, is still read in churches on All Souls' Day.
How All Saints' Day is marked around the world
Customs vary, but a few threads run through almost all of them. White or gold is the traditional liturgical colour for the day, standing for the glory of the saints. Visiting the cemetery is widespread on both All Saints' and All Souls': families clean and tidy graves, lay flowers, and light candles so that churchyards across Catholic Europe glow with thousands of small flames after dark. In Roman Catholic and Anglo-Catholic churches the Litany of the Saints, a call-and-response prayer that names Mary, the Apostles and many saints, is often sung at Mass.
In Britain the day is observed mainly in churches rather than at home, but the older folk customs around it, such as "souling" (going door to door asking for soul cakes in return for prayers), are widely seen as an ancestor of modern trick-or-treating. Whether or not your family marks the feast in a religious way, it is a natural moment to slow down, remember the people you have lost, and settle in for the darker half of the year.
A quiet night in for All Saints' Day
All Saints' Day has never been about costumes or fright, unlike the night before it. It is a gentler, more reflective occasion, and the nicest way to mark it at home is simply to be warm and unhurried. Once the Halloween decorations come down on the 1st, a soft onesie, a hot drink and an early night feel just right for the start of the long run-up to Christmas.
If you are already thinking ahead to the festive season, the same easygoing comfort carries you all the way through. Browse the full range of onesies, the family favourites in matching family Christmas pyjamas, or, if you simply love the season the eve belongs to, our Halloween costumes for next October.
However you spend it, All Saints' Day is a small, hopeful pause built into the calendar. It is the day the saints get their moment, the day the meaning behind the word "Halloween" finally makes sense, and a good excuse to light a candle, keep someone in mind, and stay cosy as the year turns towards winter.
All Saints' Day at a glance
Date in 2026: Sunday 1 November, the day after Halloween
Part of the 3-day Allhallowtide: 31 Oct Halloween, 1 Nov All Saints', 2 Nov All Souls'
First fixed on 1 November under Pope Gregory III (731–741)
Made a Church-wide observance by Pope Gregory IV in 837
Traditional liturgical colour: white or gold
Not a public holiday in the UK, so shops keep normal Sunday hours
Frequently asked questions about All Saints' Day 2026: Date, Meaning & History
All Saints' Day always falls on 1 November, so in 2026 it is on Sunday 1 November, the day immediately after Halloween. It is not a public holiday in the United Kingdom, so most businesses keep normal Sunday hours.
All Saints' Day honours every saint of the Church, both those who are well known and the countless faithful who were never formally canonised. Because there are far more holy men and women than days in the year, the Church sets aside one date to remember them all together so that nobody is left out.
Halloween, on 31 October, is All Hallows' Eve, the night before the feast. All Saints' Day, on 1 November, is the feast itself, celebrating the saints in heaven. The word Halloween is simply a worn-down form of All Hallows' Eve, which is why the two are so closely linked.
All Saints' Day, on 1 November, celebrates the saints already in heaven. All Souls' Day, on 2 November, is set aside to pray for everyone who has died, especially the ordinary faithful. Together with Halloween they make up the three-day season sometimes called Allhallowtide.
White or gold is the traditional liturgical colour for All Saints' Day, symbolising the glory and joy of the saints. Red is more often used for commemorations of individual martyrs.
For Roman Catholics, All Saints' Day is usually a holy day of obligation, which traditionally means attending Mass and avoiding unnecessary work. Many Anglican and other churches also mark it, either on 1 November or on the nearest Sunday.
