National & Regional Holidays 2026 | Country-by-Country Calendar

2026 is the kind of year where date rules matter as much as the dates themselves: a Saturday holiday might slide to Friday in one country, land on Monday somewhere else, or stay put and feel a little “blink and you miss it” if you work weekdays. In practical terms, the big anchors are easy to remember—Easter Sunday is April 5, 2026, and a funny calendar quirk puts Lunar New Year and Pancake Day on the same Tuesday (February 17), which makes February feel busier than it looks at first glance.

How Holiday Dates Get Set

Country-By-Country Calendar for 2026

Below is a practical scan of national and widely observed regional holidays for 2026, written for real planning: work calendars, school schedules, travel timing, and those “wait, are you free that Monday?” messages. Because local rules vary, treat this as a starting point and confirm with your employer, school, or local authority when it matters.

North America

Canada

Canada’s holiday calendar is friendly for planning, but it is also a little sneaky: a holiday can be federal, provincial, or even city-flavored, and the “day off” depends on where you live and what your workplace follows. The cleanest fixed point is Canada Day on Wednesday, July 1, 2026—midweek, no pretending it’s a long weekend unless you take time around it.

• Canada Day: Wed, Jul 1 (nationwide)
• Victoria Day: Mon, May 18 (many provinces)
• Thanksgiving: Mon, Oct 12 (nationwide)
• National Day for Truth and Reconciliation: Wed, Sep 30 (often observed federally; varies by province)
• Remembrance Day: Wed, Nov 11 (widely observed; rules vary by province)

United States

The U.S. federal list is steady—11 holidays—yet 2026 has a detail people love: Independence Day is Saturday, July 4, so the federal observed day is Friday, July 3. That turns early July into a clean long weekend for many office schedules.

• Martin Luther King Jr. Day: Mon, Jan 19
• Memorial Day: Mon, May 25
• Juneteenth: Fri, Jun 19
• Independence Day (Observed): Fri, Jul 3
• Labor Day: Mon, Sep 7
• Thanksgiving: Thu, Nov 26

In a lot of states and workplaces, you’ll also see extra days off stacked around major school breaks, and some industries treat the day after Thanksgiving as an unofficial holiday. And yes, that matters when you try to book a flight.

Mexico

Mexico is famous for “Mondayizing” a few national holidays, meaning the official day off can be different from the historic date on the calendar. In 2026, Constitution Day is observed on Monday, February 2, which makes early February a popular travel window—short, sharp, and busy.

• Constitution Day (Observed): Mon, Feb 2
• Benito Juárez Day (Observed): Mon, Mar 16
• Labor Day: Fri, May 1
• Independence Day: Wed, Sep 16
• Revolution Day (Observed): Mon, Nov 16

Many families also mark Holy Week, even when it’s not listed as a statutory day off everywhere; in 2026, that lines up with early April, right after the start-of-spring travel rush.

Europe

United Kingdom

The UK runs on bank holidays, and the small differences between nations can catch people out (especially if your team is split across cities). For England and Wales, 2026 places the Spring Bank Holiday on Monday, May 25, and the Summer Bank Holiday on Monday, August 31. Clean Mondays. Very tidy.

• Good Friday: Fri, Apr 3
• Easter Monday: Mon, Apr 6
• Early May Bank Holiday: Mon, May 4
• Spring Bank Holiday: Mon, May 25
• Summer Bank Holiday: Mon, Aug 31
• Christmas Day: Fri, Dec 25
• Boxing Day (Substitute Day): Mon, Dec 28

If you want the cultural, very-local layer: Burns Night is Sunday, January 25; Saint David’s Day is Sunday, March 1; Saint George’s Day lands on Thursday, April 23; and Saint Andrew’s Day is Monday, November 30. Not everyone gets the day off, but people still notice.

Pancake Day in 2026 is Tuesday, February 17. It’s an ordinary Tuesday on paper, yet it feels louder than that. And it’s the same day Lunar New Year begins—two calendars, one date, a slightly chaotic vibe.

Ireland

Ireland’s public holidays are built around Mondays and a few fixed dates, which makes planning feel refreshingly straightforward. The headline date is Saint Patrick’s Day on Tuesday, March 17, 2026—midweek again, so you’ll see people take a day here or there to stretch it.

• St Brigid’s Day: Mon, Feb 2
• Saint Patrick’s Day: Tue, Mar 17
• Easter Monday: Mon, Apr 6
• May Bank Holiday: Mon, May 4
• June Bank Holiday: Mon, Jun 1
• October Bank Holiday: Mon, Oct 26

Good Friday (April 3) often runs like a quiet day—shops may reduce hours, some workplaces close—yet it’s not counted as a statutory public holiday. That difference sounds small, but it changes what employers are required to do.

France

France officially recognizes 11 public holidays nationwide, and 2026 lines up a classic trio in late spring: May 1, May 8, and then Ascension Day on Thursday, May 14. Many people use those dates as a spring reset (short trips, family visits, a bit of breathing room).

• Easter Monday: Mon, Apr 6
• Labor Day: Fri, May 1
• Victory Day: Fri, May 8
• Ascension Day: Thu, May 14
• Whit Monday: Mon, May 25
• Bastille Day: Tue, Jul 14
• Armistice Day: Wed, Nov 11

Bastille Day being on a Tuesday in 2026 is the kind of detail that shifts travel patterns—Monday arrivals, Wednesday returns, that sort of thing. One regional note: Good Friday is a public holiday in Alsace-Moselle, even though it is not nationwide.

Germany

Germany mixes nationwide holidays with state extras, so the “day off” can change the moment you cross a state line. Nationwide, Easter-driven dates are shared by most: Good Friday (April 3), Easter Monday (April 6), Ascension (May 14), and Whit Monday (May 25). Then comes the fixed national day: German Unity Day on Saturday, October 3.

• Good Friday: Fri, Apr 3
• Labor Day: Fri, May 1
• Ascension Day: Thu, May 14
• Whit Monday: Mon, May 25
• German Unity Day: Sat, Oct 3

Here’s the thing: if a fixed holiday falls on a weekend, Germany generally does not create a substitute weekday. That makes weekend landings feel a little anticlimactic for some workers, but it also keeps the calendar consistent.

Spain

Spain’s structure is layered: national holidays plus autonomous-community holidays plus local city days. The national set is still useful for broad planning, and 2026 has a comfortable rhythm—Epiphany in early January, a spring cluster around Easter, and National Day on Monday, October 12.

• Epiphany: Tue, Jan 6
• Good Friday: Fri, Apr 3
• Labor Day: Fri, May 1
• Assumption: Sat, Aug 15
• National Day: Mon, Oct 12
• Immaculate Conception: Tue, Dec 8

Regional holidays fill in the gaps, sometimes turning a normal week into a surprise short one. If you’re coordinating school pickups or deliveries across regions, that local layer is the one that really matters.

Italy

Italy’s calendar blends fixed civic dates with a few movable ones. In 2026, Republic Day is Tuesday, June 2, and August brings Assumption on Saturday, August 15—great for festivals, less helpful if you hoped for a weekday break.

• Epiphany: Tue, Jan 6
• Easter Monday: Mon, Apr 6
• Liberation Day: Sat, Apr 25
• Republic Day: Tue, Jun 2
• Immaculate Conception: Tue, Dec 8

Italy is also one of those places where neighborhood traditions can matter as much as the official list. A local patron day isn’t “national,” yet it can still close schools and offices in that city. Small detail. Big effect.

Oceania

Australia

Australia has a set of national public holidays, but the real calendar lives at the state level. Still, a few dates are universal: Australia Day is Monday, January 26, 2026, and ANZAC Day is Saturday, April 25. In many places, that weekend landing triggers an additional day off on Monday (April 27), though rules can differ by state.

• Australia Day: Mon, Jan 26
• Good Friday: Fri, Apr 3
• Easter Monday: Mon, Apr 6
• ANZAC Day: Sat, Apr 25 (often with Monday arrangements)
• Christmas Day: Fri, Dec 25

2026 also lines up with a busy global sports summer (hello, World Cup season), so travel demand can spike around school holidays even when there’s no official public holiday. It’s a bit like a suitcase zipper—everything can fit, until it can’t.

New Zealand

New Zealand’s national list is tidy, and it includes a winter date that many visitors now plan around: Matariki is a public holiday on Friday, July 10, 2026. Waitangi Day is Friday, February 6, and ANZAC Day in 2026 is Saturday, April 25 with the day off observed on Monday, April 27.

• Waitangi Day: Fri, Feb 6
• Good Friday: Fri, Apr 3
• ANZAC Day (Observed): Mon, Apr 27
• Matariki: Fri, Jul 10
• Labour Day: Mon, Oct 26

Asia and the Middle East

Japan

Japan recognizes 16 national holidays, and two rules help explain the “why is everyone off today?” moments: if a holiday lands on Sunday, the next weekday becomes a substitute holiday, and a day between two holidays can also become a holiday. Those rules create long breaks that don’t always look obvious on a basic calendar.

• National Foundation Day: Wed, Feb 11
• Emperor’s Birthday: Mon, Feb 23
• Showa Day: Wed, Apr 29
• Culture Day: Tue, Nov 3

If you’re scheduling business across time zones, it’s smart to watch for the late-April to early-May cluster sometimes called Golden Week (the exact weekday pattern changes by year, but the travel effect is pretty consistent).

China

China’s public holiday “weeks” are famous, and they’re built by combining official days with adjusted workdays. In 2026, Lunar New Year begins on Tuesday, February 17, but the practical time off can extend beyond that depending on the official schedule released for the year. Put simply: the date is stable, the day-off plan is the part you confirm.

• Lunar New Year: Tue, Feb 17 (time off may span multiple days)
• Labor Day: Fri, May 1 (often extended by schedule design)
• National Day: Thu, Oct 1 (often part of a longer break)

India

India has three widely recognized national holidays—easy to track—plus a large set of state and regional holidays that vary by location. Republic Day is Monday, January 26, 2026, Independence Day is Saturday, August 15, and Gandhi Jayanti lands on Friday, October 2.

• Republic Day: Mon, Jan 26
• Independence Day: Sat, Aug 15
• Gandhi Jayanti: Fri, Oct 2

For travel and staffing, the biggest surprises usually come from state-level festival days. It’s normal (really normal) for two cities in the same country to have totally different “quiet weeks.” Plan locally.

Singapore

Singapore keeps a neat list that mixes fixed civic dates with lunar-calendar holidays. In 2026, Chinese New Year begins on February 17, and National Day is on Sunday, August 9, which can change how the observed day off is handled depending on the year’s rules.

• Chinese New Year: Tue–Wed, Feb 17–18
• National Day: Sun, Aug 9
• Christmas Day: Fri, Dec 25

United Arab Emirates

The UAE holiday calendar blends fixed national dates with lunar-calendar holidays that can shift by one or two days depending on moon sighting and official announcements. For planning, treat lunar holidays as date ranges until the final confirmation lands, then lock your schedule.

• New Year’s Day: Thu, Jan 1
• National Day: Wed, Dec 2

Latin America and Africa

Brazil

Brazil’s calendar has fixed federal holidays, and then it has the cultural gravity of Carnival season. In 2026, Carnival activities run through mid-February, and Rio alone is often estimated to draw around six million participants across the period—wild, joyful, and very real when you’re thinking about transport and bookings. The timing is tied to Easter, which is why it moves.

• Carnival season: mid-February (dates follow the Easter cycle)
• Tiradentes Day: Tue, Apr 21
• Labor Day: Fri, May 1
• Independence Day: Mon, Sep 7
• All Souls’ Day: Mon, Nov 2

If you’re planning work across Brazilian time zones, it helps to note that some “optional” holidays still behave like holidays in practice (offices thin out, replies slow down). Reality beats labels every time.

Argentina

Argentina uses a mix of fixed holidays and a system that can move certain commemorations to create long weekends. That means the broad shape is easy to understand, but the fine print depends on the year’s official calendar. A few fixed points are consistent and widely observed.

• New Year’s Day: Thu, Jan 1
• May Revolution Day: Mon, May 25
• Independence Day: Thu, Jul 9
• Immaculate Conception: Tue, Dec 8

South Africa

South Africa’s holidays are largely fixed-date and nationwide, which makes coordination straightforward. In 2026, Freedom Day lands on Monday, April 27, giving a clean long weekend for many schedules, and Heritage Day is on Thursday, September 24.

• Human Rights Day: Sat, Mar 21
• Freedom Day: Mon, Apr 27
• Heritage Day: Thu, Sep 24
• Day of Reconciliation: Wed, Dec 16
• Christmas Day: Fri, Dec 25

And if you’re building a 2026 plan around big shared moments, remember the calendar overlaps: the Winter Olympics in Italy early in the year and the FIFA World Cup in summer can shift travel demand in ways that feel like “holiday season,” even when the official holiday list looks normal. It’s the crowd effect, not the label.