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The Sims 4: Seasons was the first expansion to add the in-game calendar on release in 2018, and with it came not only with a weather forecast and changing seasons, but holidays as well. And even though the calendar system is a base-game feature now, bringing holidays to all, Seasons still has a few exclusive holidays you won’t find elsewhere.

RELATED: The Sims 4 Seasons: Everything You Need To Know About Weather

Some holidays are pre-set with the expansion, and you’ve even got the option to make your own as well. Looking for all the info on traditions and how to celebrate? Our guide to The Sims 4 Holidays is for you.

Updated on May 3, 2023 by Gabrielle Castania: With The Sims 4 having become free-to-play and with the calendar system implemented into the base game, we wanted to revisit our Sims 4 Holidays guide again after the release of Growing Together, to ensure it’s as up-to-date as possible. You’ll find info here on holidays in the base game, holidays exclusive to The Sims 4: Seasons, and everything you’ll need to have some very happy holidays.

What's The Difference Between Holidays And Events?

Sims dancing in a club.

The in-game calendar can be used to schedule both holidays and events.

Some of these are tied to Seasons, while others are available to all in the base game.

The chart below shows the different events tracked in the calendar, depending on the content that you own.

Event Type

DLC Required

Notes

Work Schedules

(Base Game)

All jobs with regular hours are tracked, both full and part-time.

School Schedules

The calendar tracks grade school and high school and also displays grades in the information section.

Birthdays

Household birthdays are tracked as long as aging is enabled. Birthday Party events must be created manually.

Parties

You can plan different types of party in advance, and they will be tracked here. They can be scheduled up to two weeks in advance.

Weddings

You can plan and schedule a wedding for a Sim in your household up to two weeks in advance.

Holidays

Seasons

Specific holidays that include traditions are still exclusive to Seasons.

Seasons

The season changes once a week by default, and each season behaves differently in each of the different Sims 4 worlds

Talent Showcases

Get Famous

Bring your talented Sims to these events for a chance to show off (and maybe even get noticed)

The Starlight Accolade Awards

Working toward becoming a superstar? The Starlight Accolades are the awards show for the best in the business

Festivals in Henford-on-Bagley

Cottage Living

The calendar will track the village fairs, including details of what will be showcased each week for those with Cottage Living.

Festivals in Mt. Komorebi

Snowy Escape

The Calendar will track the festivals in the different neighborhoods in Mt. Komorebi if you have Snowy Escape.

Festivals in San Myshuno

City Living

The calendar tracks City Living's range of festivals in San Myshuno.

Halloween

Spooky Stuff

Spooky Stuff adds the Spooky Party event which you can schedule to create Halloween in your game without Seasons.

Wedding Ceremonies and Vow Renewals

My Wedding Stories

Swearing your life to your love makes it into the calendar

Wedding Parties (Bach, Rehearsal, or Family Gathering)

You can't celebrate your big day without celebrating about it first

Stay Over Events

Growing Together

Extended stays and sleepovers can be initiated and tracked through the calendar.

Baby Showers

Get ready to welcome your new bundle of joy surrounded by family and friends

The weather forecast and different seasons are also tracked on the calendar but only for those with the Seasons expansion.

RELATED: The Best Features In The Sims 4 Season (And Some More Surprising Things)

Major Holidays In Seasons

Father winter visiting a family at home.

When you first open your Sims calendar after installing Seasons, you'll notice four major holidays already added.

Love Day

The Sims version of Valentine's Day has the traditions of romantic spirit, give flowers and go on a date.

Sims can fulfill the first desire by partaking in romantic interactions with their significant other.

Harvestfest

Harvestfest is like Thanksgiving and has many of its traditions. Sims will enjoy decorating for the event, cooking and eating a grand meal, and employing a thankful spirit. This thankfulness comes from specific interactions available on the day.

You'll also notice holiday gnomes around, which you can appease to have your house carpeted with seed packets. Alternatively, you can remove this tradition from the holiday if you're not a fan, or simply sell the gnomes.

If you want to appease the gnomes, here's what they prefer:

Which Gifts Should You Give The Sims 4 Harvestfest Gnomes?

Gift

Which Gnome Likes It

Fruitcake

Ghastly gray gnome

Future Cube

Alien gnome with a tentacle beard

Toy

Naked gnome with a censor box

Salad

Pinky bunny gnome

Pie

Bear gnome

Grim Reaper gnome

Swimsuit gnome

Coffee

(All gnomes not mentioned above)

Sims 4 Harvestfest Seasons Gnomes Bunny Floor

Winterfest

This is the closest you'll come to Christmas and asks Sims to decorate, open presents, and enjoy a grand meal together.

There are also festive spirit interactions to enjoy, and Father Winter will pay you a visit, with gifts in tow. You can also use the decoration box in-game to make sure your house feels suitably festive.

New Year's Eve

There's no fancy name for this one, just the requirement to decorate, get in the party spirit, make some resolutions, and enjoy the countdown to midnight.

Sims will gain small boosts if they make and then complete a resolution, so choose carefully!

RELATED: The Sims 4: Every Holiday, Ranked

Other Minor Holidays From The Sims 4: Seasons

flower bunny walking along the street

As well as these larger holidays, other surprise events will appear.

These occur seemingly at random, so be sure to keep your eyes and ears peeled for the holiday jingle and pop-up box to know when they're happening.

Rebate Day

If you buy an object worth at least 500 Simoleons from the build buy catalog, you'll complete this event.

You'll also receive a ten percent rebate on this and any other purchases made on rebate Day later in the week.

Prank Day

This day is exactly what the name suggests, a day you'll gain a boost from playing pranks on your friends and neighbors.

Any mischief interactions will complete the requirement.

New Skill Day

This day gives Sims a boost to skill-building. As long as you build any skill for a short time, then you'll complete the task.

All skills are learned faster during this time.

TV Season Premiere

To complete this event, tune into your TV at the time shown in order to catch the show first.

Two sims fighting.

Neighborhood Brawl

The day is like a N.A.P. gone wrong with the neighborhood brawl event.

Sims will start random fights with others, and you can expect to see brawls break out all over the place.

Night On The Town

Sims are encouraged to visit specific places by the tempting offer of free food and drinks.

San Myshuno's bars are the main venues included in this event, as the event comes with City Living.

The Lottery

Use your phone to buy a lottery ticket and see who wins. Each Sim can purchase one ticket each, giving large households a better chance to win.

Winners receive a life-changing one million Simoleons for winning, so it's worth a shot!

Talk Like A Pirate Day

Inspired by the real-life annual event, your social menus will take on a pirate theme for the day. Click any option with a pirate flag next to it to complete the task.

RELATED: The Sims 4: Best Mods For Realistic Gameplay

How To Add Custom Holidays To The Sims 4 Calendar

Sims at a halloween aprty

To add a custom holiday, simply click the "add holiday" option after selecting any day that doesn't already have a holiday icon on it. This will then give you a screen where you can customize your holiday to craft the traditions and decor of your dreams.

In the top left is an icon that can be changed to denote your holidaty, and next to it is a space to name your celebration.

If you want neighborhood Sims to decorate their houses for the occasion you can select a decoration theme from any of the other major holidays.

The final option in this top space is a tick box for if Sims will get the day off from work and school.

blank holiday on sims seasons calendar.

Once these details are filled in, you can then choose up to five traditions that your Sims can follow on the day to gain positive moodlets.

If you want to create an event that just gives Sims a day off from school or work, for instance in order to have scheduled vacation time, you can leave the traditions blank.

There are over 50 different traditions in total.

All Holiday Traditions In The Sims 4

Specific Holiday Themed

Generic Holiday Themed

Behavior-Based

Religion or Culture-Based

Countdown to Midnight

Decorate

Appreciate an Object

Air Grievances

Attend Holiday Ceremony

Make Resolutions

Baking

Cleaning

Exercise

Fasting

Egg Hunt

BBQ

Fighting

Games

Light Kinara

Flower Bunny

Drinking

Go on a Date

Tell Stories

Light Menorah

Thankful Spirit

Grand Meal

Art and Music Spirit

Gardening

Remembrance

Father Winter

Open Presents

Give Flowers

Go on Vacation

Festive Lighting

Party Spirit

Mischief Spirit

Romantic Spirit

Festive Spirit

Give Gifts

Streaking

Water Fun

Spooky Spirit

Invite Guests

Fire

Polar Bear Plunge

Trick or Treat

Wear Costumes

Sports TV

Watch Romantic TV

Holiday Gnomes

Fireworks (City Living)

With wedding traditions such a major addition in My Wedding Stories, we've got a full guide to the traditions of weddings.

Once you've chosen your traditions, the holiday is ready to be celebrated! Simply click the tick to add it to the calendar.

How To Remove Holidays Or Change Holiday Traditions

The calendar showing how to edit a holiday.

If you want to add or change a holiday, then you can select it on the calendar and click the edit button on the left-hand side.

This will allow you to change anything you want about the holiday except the day.

If you're trying to move a holiday to another season (perhaps to reflect the Southern Hemisphere, for example), you'll need to delete the holiday and make it again from scratch on the target date.

The edit feature is most useful for removing traditions that may annoy you, such as Holiday Gnomes, or changing the decoration theme to none in order to prevent the neighborhood from stringing up love heart bunting.

NEXT: The Sims 4: Most Unique House Builds