Starfleet Academy Replaces Christmas With Secular 'Worlds Day'

In Season 1, Episode 7 of Star Trek: Starfleet Academy, titled "Ko'Zeine," the series introduced a new holiday called Worlds Day that serves as a secular stand-in for Christmas. The franchise had never given humanity a clear Christmas observance in its six decades of storytelling, and Worlds Day closes the Academy so cadets can spend time with family and share large meals.

Worlds Day appears to be an interplanetary celebration, implying participation across Federation worlds rather than a single culture. On screen it functioned partly as a practical way to separate characters into smaller groups for individual storylines, though the show’s forthcoming second season leaves open the possibility the holiday could recur.

A likely origin for Worlds Day links it to the Burn, the 31st-century event that caused a dilithium shortage and isolated many worlds.

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