Public holidays in Switzerland
Appearance
The 26 cantons that make up Switzerland set their public holidays independently – with the exception of 1 August,[1] which is the only federal holiday.[2] Furthermore, holidays can change depending on employers, and some holidays are specific to only a certain town or village. In general, the most reliable list of holidays for a given area will be found in a list of bank shops and offices close during bank holidays.
Public holidays in each canton
[edit]Holiday | Variable? |
Date | AG |
AI |
AR |
BL |
BS |
BE |
FR |
GE |
GL |
GR |
JU |
LU |
NE |
NW |
OW |
SG |
SH |
SZ |
SO |
TG |
TI |
UR |
VS |
VD |
ZG |
ZH |
Number of cantons |
2024 | 2025 | 2026 | 2027 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
New Year's Day | N | 1 January | 26 | 1 January 2024 | 1 January 2025 | 1 January 2026 | 1 January 2027 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Berchtold's Day | N | 2 January | 14 | 2 January 2024 | 2 January 2025 | 2 January 2026 | 2 January 2027 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Epiphany | N | 6 January | 5 | 6 January 2024 | 6 January 2025 | 6 January 2026 | 6 January 2027 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Republic Day | N | 1 March | 1 | 1 March 2024 | 1 March 2025 | 1 March 2026 | 1 March 2027 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Saint Joseph's Day | N | 19 March | 6 | 19 March 2024 | 19 March 2025 | 19 March 2026 | 19 March 2027 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Näfels Ride | N | First Thursday in April | 1 | First Thursday in April 2024 | First Thursday in April 2025 | First Thursday in April 2026 | First Thursday in April 2027 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Good Friday | Y | Easter Sunday – 2 d | [3] | 24 | 2024 | 2025 | 2026 | 2027 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Easter Monday | Y | Easter Sunday + 1 d | 25 | 1 April 2024 | 21 April 2025 | 6 April 2026 | 29 March 2027 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Labour Day | N | 1 May | 9 | 1 May 2024 | 1 May 2025 | 1 May 2026 | 1 May 2027 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Ascension Day | Y | Easter Sunday + 39 d | 26 | 9 May 2024 | 29 May 2025 | 14 May 2026 | 6 May 2027 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Whit Monday | Y | Easter Sunday + 50 d | 25 | 20 May 2024 | 9 June 2025 | 25 May 2026 | 17 May 2027 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Corpus Christi | Y | Easter Sunday + 60 d | 14 | 30 May 2024 | 19 June 2025 | 4 June 2026 | 27 May 2027 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Saints Peter and Paul | N | 29 June | [4] | [4] | 1 | 29 June 2024 | 29 June 2025 | 29 June 2026 | 29 June 2027 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
National Day | N | 1 August | 26 | 1 August 2024 | 1 August 2025 | 1 August 2026 | 1 August 2027 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Assumption Day | N | 15 August | 12 | 15 August 2024 | 15 August 2025 | 15 August 2026 | 15 August 2027 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Jeûne genevois | Y | Thursday after First Sunday in September | 1 | 2024 | 2025 | 2026 | 2027 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Lundi du Jeûne (Monday after previous) | Y | Day after Third Sunday in September | 1 | 2024 | 2025 | 2026 | 2027 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Saint Nicholas of Flüe Day | N | 25 September | 1 | 25 September 2024 | 25 September 2025 | 25 September 2026 | 25 September 2027 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
All Saints' Day | N | 1 November | 15 | 1 November 2024 | 1 November 2025 | 1 November 2026 | 1 November 2027 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Immaculate Conception | N | 8 December | 13 | 8 December 2024 | 8 December 2025 | 8 December 2026 | 8 December 2027 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Christmas Day | N | 25 December | 26 | 25 December 2024 | 25 December 2025 | 25 December 2026 | 25 December 2027 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Saint Stephen's Day | N | 26 December | 21 | 26 December 2024 | 26 December 2025 | 26 December 2026 | 26 December 2027 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Restoration Day | N | 31 December | 1 | 31 December 2024 | 31 December 2025 | 31 December 2026 | 31 December 2027 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Total number of holidays per canton | 12 | 12 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 14 | 9 | 11 | 11 | 12 | 15 | 11 | 13 | 14 | 9 | 10 | 14 | 15 | 10 | 15 | 14 | 9 | 9 | 13 | 10 |
Public holidays in specific places, parts of cantons
[edit]Holiday | Date | Holiday | Partial Holiday |
---|---|---|---|
Carnival1 | Second Monday before Ash Wednesday | SZ | |
Thursday before Ash Wednesday | LU, UR, NW | SZ, SG, GR | |
Monday before Ash Wednesday | GL | ZH, LU, UR, SZ, ZG, SG, AG | |
Tuesday before Ash Wednesday | SZ, NW, OW | LU, UR, BL, SG, AG, TI | |
Ash Wednesday | NW | SZ, BL, AR, TI, JU | |
Friday after Ash Wednesday | TI | ||
Monday after Ash Wednesday | BS | BL (Lower Part Afternoon)[clarification needed], ZH | |
Tuesday after Ash Wednesday | FR | ||
Wednesday after Ash Wednesday | BS | BL (Lower Part Afternoon) | |
Republic Day | 1 March | NE (only) | |
Näfels Ride | Usually the first Thursday in April | GL (only) | |
Sechseläuten | Usually the third Monday in April (half-day) | Zürich City, Schlieren (only) | |
Independence Day | 23 June | JU (only) | |
Peter and Paul | 29 June | TI | LU, GR |
Knabenschiessen | Second weekend in September (+ half Monday after) |
Zürich City (and Zürich Metro Area) (only) | |
Prayer Monday | Monday after Federal Day of Thanksgiving, Repentance and Prayer |
Legally recognized only in VD (Lundi du Jeûne) |
Also celebrated in NE and parts of BE. Bank holiday in VS. |
Mauritius Day | 22 September | AI (only) except Oberegg District | |
St. Leodegar (Schutzengelfest) | 2 October | Lucerne City (only) | |
L'Escalade | 12 December | GE (only) |
1 | The days around Carnival are (with the exception of very few individual municipalities) not public holidays. However, due to widely observed celebrations in the cantons mentioned, there are usually restrictions: for example, businesses might already close at noon or not open at all. |
Notes and references
[edit]- ^ Swiss National Day
- ^ "Familienurlaub Ratgeber". Interhome.ch. Retrieved 18 August 2014.
- ^ most stores are closed, despite the day not being a public holiday
- ^ a b some areas
- ^ https://www.bj.admin.ch/dam/bj/de/data/publiservice/service/zivilprozessrecht/kant-feiertage.pdf.download.pdf/kant-feiertage.pdf [bare URL PDF]
External links
[edit]- Comprehensive overview of Swiss holidays (German PDF file)
- "Feiertage Schweiz". Kalender12.ch. Retrieved 24 January 2024.
- "Switzerland Public Holidays". SwissCalendar.com. Retrieved 1 March 2024.