What is Black Friday?
Black Friday is the day after American Thanksgiving, which places it between 23 and 29 November. The name comes from Philadelphia police in the 1950s describing the traffic chaos after the holiday, not from retailers moving into profit, which is a later and tidier story. Sales now run for most of November, but the Friday itself remains the anchor date. Since it is defined by Thanksgiving, this countdown finds the fourth Thursday in November and adds a day.
The next one falls on Friday, 27 November 2026, and this page counts down to the midnight that starts it in whatever time zone your browser reports. For a date of your own, the deadline countdown takes any target and tracks progress against it.