The tradition: Twelfth Night
Twelfth Night marks the end of the twelve days of Christmas, and it is the traditional day for decorations to come down. It falls on January 5 or January 6, depending on whether you start counting on Christmas Day or the day after. January 6 is Epiphany, also called Three Kings Day. Folklore says leaving decorations up past it is bad luck. An older tradition keeps them until Candlemas on February 2.
The practical limit: 90 days
Holiday lighting counts as temporary lighting under the National Electrical Code, and temporary holiday lighting is limited to 90 days. Light strings are not built to live outside all year. Sun and weather wear the wire and sockets.
What Vermont does to the schedule
Lights go up on a dry roof in autumn and come down in the hardest month of the year. A roofline under ice is not somewhere to be on a ladder, so a January takedown date has to be able to move. That is why ours is a date we agree with you, not a fixed one.
If we installed your lights
You do nothing. Takedown is in January on a date agreed with you, and we store the lights until next season. You never handle them.
How long is too long?
February is pushing it. After that the lights are wearing out for no reason, and they are past the 90 days.
