Tibb's Eve facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Tibb's Eve |
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Port de Grave Christmas Boat Lighting in a starry starry night in Newfoundland, Canada
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| Observed by | Newfoundlanders |
| Type | Cultural |
| Significance | Beginning of the Christmas season |
| Observances | Drinking and merriment |
| Date | 23 December |
| Next time | 23 December 2025 |
| Frequency | Annual |
| Related to | Christmas Eve, Christmas, Advent |
Tibb's Eve is a special day celebrated on December 23rd in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. It marks the unofficial start of the Christmas season for many people there. The name "Tibb's Eve" also has an older meaning, referring to a day that will never actually happen.
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What Does "Tibb's Eve" Mean?
The phrase "Saint Tibb's Eve" originally meant "a day that never comes." This is because there isn't a real Saint named Tibb in the calendar.
A person who studies old traditions, Philip Hiscock, explained it this way:
To say something would happen on Tib's Eve was to say it would never happen.
There are other similar sayings, like "when two Mondays fall together." These phrases are used to describe something that is very unlikely to happen.
The idea of Tibb's Eve as a "non-time" traveled to Newfoundland and Labrador. It became part of the local way of speaking, known as Newfoundland English dialect. People would use it to mean an unknown or impossible date. For example, if someone said they would pay you back "on Tibb's Eve," it meant you probably wouldn't get your money back.
Tibb's Eve as a Holiday
Over time, the meaning of Tibb's Eve changed. It became a real celebration. People in Newfoundland and Labrador call it by slightly different names, like Tip's Eve, Tipp's Eve, or Tipsy Eve.
Eventually, people started to connect this "non-existent" day with the Christmas season. Some thought it was "between the old year and the new." This made it feel like a special time around Christmas.
Around the time of World War II, people in some parts of Newfoundland began to celebrate December 23rd as Tibb's Eve. It became the first night during Advent when it was considered okay to have a festive gathering. Advent was traditionally a quiet, religious time. Tibb's Eve became an early chance to start the Christmas celebrations.
For many Newfoundlanders, this day is the official start of Christmas. It's a time to gather with friends and family. The date of Tibb's Eve is mostly known and celebrated only in Newfoundland.
How the Holiday Grew
Tibb's Eve started as a tradition in smaller communities, called "outports," in Newfoundland. It wasn't originally celebrated in the larger city of St. John's. However, around 2010, local business owners in St. John's saw it as a chance to create fun events. They started hosting Tibb's Eve parties. This helped share "Newfoundland experiences" with visitors and new residents.
This informal holiday has also been used to help others. For example, the "Shine Your Light on Tibb’s Eve" event raises money for the St. John's Women's Centre. Other groups, like the Masons in Grand Bank, also organize charity drives on Tibb's Eve.
Thanks to social media and Newfoundlanders living in other places, the tradition has spread. It's now celebrated in cities like Halifax, Nova Scotia, and Toronto, Ontario. In 2014, a golf club in Alberta hosted a Newfoundland-themed Tibb's Eve event to support local charities. Some breweries have even made special "Tibb's Eve" beers.
In 2019, comedian Colin Hollett described the holiday for a newspaper:
Tibb's Eve on December 23, when people drink and eat at kitchen parties and bars with all the people they want to celebrate with before spending time with those they have to. I have no idea how that isn't huge everywhere else.
By 2020, local news began to call Tibb's Eve the "official" start of the Christmas holiday season. In 2021, many bars in Newfoundland hosted Tibb's Eve "ugly Christmas sweater" parties.
The Story Behind the Name
Tibb's Eve is sometimes called Tipp's Eve, Tip's Eve, or Tipsy Eve. There's a popular story, or "urban legend," that these names come from the word tipple. To "tipple" means to drink, especially in a relaxed way.
One explanation suggests:
The more contemporary explanation of St. Tibb's comes from the association of the day with a Christmas tipple. In the 1500s, if you were to go out for a drink, you went to a "tipple" or alehouse and were served by a "tippler" – the alehouse keeper. In Newfoundland, St. Tibb's became the first real occasion to taste the home brew, a day where the men would visit each other's homes for a taste.
This idea is supported by examples in the Dictionary of Newfoundland English.
Edie Smith from Port-aux-Basques, Newfoundland and Labrador, shared her belief about the name:
Christmas really starts in my home on Tipps Eve, which is the day before Christmas. I have heard that it is called Tipps Eve because when men used to put up their own homebrew etc. they wouldn't drink it before Christmas, but I guess most men would sneak a drink or two on this day because they felt the Christmas was close and they probably got a bit tipsy – thus Tipps Eve.
So, the original meaning of Tibb's Eve as a "non-time" changed. Through folk stories and changes in how words were pronounced, the phrase became linked to the idea of being "tipsy" or having a "tipple."
As folklorist Philip Hiscock noted:
For someone who thinks of it as a day to get tipsy, then Tipsy Eve is perfect. There's nothing wrong with that. That's a good way of calling it. And, of course, it's all based in the kind of humour that people have had for hundreds of years. So, there's no reason why people should not make humorous adjustments to it in the present.
