Public holidays in France

There are eleven official public holidays in France,^[1] of which three are movable days which always fall on a weekday. The Alsace region and the Moselle department observe two additional days.^[2] These holidays do not shift when they fall during a weekend,^[2] which means that the average number of observed public holidays falling on weekdays (outside Alsace and Moselle) is 8.7 and ranges from seven to ten. Most Asian countries and all North American countries observe between two and ten more public holidays per year on weekdays.^[3]

French etching from 1789 depicting the storming of the Bastille, commemorated as Bastille Day

Public holidays in France

Date	English name	Local name	Remarks
1 January	New Year's Day	Jour de l'An
moveable	Good Friday	Vendredi Saint	Friday before Easter Sunday. Alsace and Moselle only.[4]
moveable	Easter Monday	Lundi de Pâques	Monday after Easter Sunday (one day after Easter Sunday)
1 May	Labour Day	Fête du Travail	[5]
8 May	Victory Day	Victoire 1945	End of hostilities in Europe in World War II
moveable	Ascension Day	Ascension	Thursday, 39 days after Easter Sunday
moveable	Whit Monday	Lundi de Pentecôte	Monday after Pentecost (50 days after Easter), observed only in some businesses, see notes
14 July	National Day	Fête Nationale Française	French National Day, commemorates the Feast of the Federation
15 August	Assumption Day	Assomption
1 November	All Saints' Day	Toussaint
11 November	Armistice Day	Armistice 1918	End of World War I.[6]
25 December	Christmas Day	Noël	Newspapers are not published. Pubs, restaurants, shops, etc. closed all day by law.
26 December	Saint Stephen's Day	Saint Étienne	Alsace and Moselle only.[4]

Overseas territories

Guadeloupe

• Mi-Carême (mid-Lent); occurs on a Thursday, 22 days after Ash Wednesday; therefore, between 26 February and 1 April.^[7]
• Good Friday (Vendredi saint)
• Abolition of slavery: 27 May.^[8]

French Guiana

• Abolition of slavery: 10 June.^[9][10]

Martinique

• Abolition of slavery: 22 May.^[11]

New Caledonia

• Citizenship Day (Fête de la citoyenneté): 24 September.^[12]

French Polynesia

• Missionary Day (French: Arrivée de l'Évangile): 5 March.^[13]
• Matariʻi (Tahitian: Matariʻi): 20 November.^[14]

Réunion

• Réunion Freedom Day (French: Fête réunionnaise de la liberté; Réunion Creole French: Fèt Kaf) 20 December.^[15]

Saint Barthélemy

• Abolition of slavery: 9 October.^[16]

Saint Martin

• Abolition of slavery: 28 May.^[17]

Wallis and Futuna

• Feast of Saint Peter Chanel: 28 April.^[18]
• Festival of the Territory: 29 July.^[19]

Notes

Note: French law dictates that work should stop, but be paid only for the Fête du Travail (May Day, 1 May),^[20] except in industries where it is infeasible to stop working.^[21] The rest of the public holidays are listed in statute law,^[22] but law does not dictate that work should stop; however a leave from work may be granted by the employer or by convention collective, an agreement between employers' and employees' trade unions.

In 2005, French prime minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin removed Pentecost (Whit) Monday's status as a public holiday. This decision was eventually overruled by French courts in 2008.^{[citation needed]} Employers are free to decide whether to make Whit Monday a day off or not.^[23]