Period before Christmas (6)
I believe the answer is:
advent
<span class="explanation-format__ClueExplanation">'<span class="explanation-format__original">period before christmas</span>' is the definition.<br/ ><span class="explanation-format__explanation">(advent is the period leading up to Christmas Day)</span><br/ ><br/ >This is the entire clue.<br/ ></span>
(Other definitions for advent that I've seen before include "Forty days preceding Christmas" , "Second Coming" , "Coming - occasion in Church calendar" , "when the Christmas shopping has to be done?" , "Coming (of Christmas)" .)