Black Friday 2024, 2025 and further

View below the dates for (among others) Black Friday 2024 and Black Friday 2025.
You can also see on which day the holiday falls and how many days it is until this holiday.

Significance of Black Friday 2024

Black Friday 2024, although not a federal holiday, it is a holiday observed, in many states, annually on the day that follows after Thanksgiving Day (Fourth Thursday of November) in the United States. It is a day dedicated to retail shopping and been regarded as the beginning of the Christmas shopping season.

History of Black Friday

The history of Black Friday 2024 is based on many theories, some considered quite controversial. The first recorded use of the term “Black Friday” was applied not to the holiday but to financial crisis: specifically, the crash of the United States gold market on September 24, 1869. Two notoriously ruthless Wall Street financiers, Jay Gould and Jim Fisk, worked together to buy up as much as they could of the nations' gold, in order to drive the price sky-high and sell it for astonishing profits. On that Friday in September, the conspiracy finally unravelled, sending the stock market into free-fall and bankrupting everyone.

The most commonly repeated theory behind the origin of Black Friday 2024 links it to retailers. As the story goes, after an entire year of operating at a loss (“in the red”) stores would supposedly earn a profit (“went into the black”) on the day after Thanksgiving, because holiday shoppers spent so much money on discounted items in order to prepare for the Christmas gifting season. Though it's true that retail companies used to record losses in red and profits in black when doing their accounting, this version of Black Friday's origin is the officially sanctioned—but inaccurate—story behind the tradition.

In recent years, another theory has surfaced that gives a particularly unpleasant twist to the holiday, claiming that back in the 1800s Southern plantation owners could buy slaves at a discount on the day after Thanksgiving. This theory has no basis of fact but has led some to call for a boycott of the retail holiday.

One other theory is that the wheels of vehicles in heavy traffic on the day after Thanksgiving Day left many black markings on the road surface, leading to the term Black Friday. Most believe that the true story behind Black Friday 2024 dates back to the 1950s, when the police in the city of Philadelphia used the term to describe the chaos that ensued on the day after Thanksgiving, when hordes of suburban shoppers and tourists flooded into the city in advance of the big Army-Navy football game held on that Saturday every year.

Generally, the idea of Black Friday stuck and since then, the one-day sales bonanza has spread throughout the majority states of the country. Stores started opening earlier and earlier on that Friday, and now the most dedicated shoppers can head out right after their Thanksgiving meal at Midnight.

Traditions of Black Friday 2024

Traditionally, Black Friday 2024 is viewed as a time of great deals and discounts. Many people have a day off work or choose to take a day from their quota of annual leave on Black Friday 2024. People use this day for shopping (for Christmas presents in particular). Many stores have special offers and lower their prices on some goods, such as toys constitution and citizens.

When is Black Friday 2024

Black Friday 2024 falls, annually, on the day that follows after Thanksgiving Day (which is usually the fourth Friday of November). The date on which the holiday falls on changes in accordance with Thanksgiving Day, but the day of the week remains the same; consult the above table for exact holiday dates.See besides 'Black Friday' even more holidays, click on one of the links below.

View or download the 2024 calendar.

See also the 2024 Calendar.