National Holidays with Fixed Date

Question

I am looking for national holidays in countries other than  the United States that have a fixed date. In the US, we January 1st, July 4th, November 11th, and December 25th. Excluding July 4th, the others are celebrated in lots of countries. I’m looking for other unique specific dates, like Boxing Day (December 26th) in some countries. I’m looking for unique dates for a Biobuilders theme.

Comments

Queen's Birthday was the first Monday in June, so was a fixed day, but not a fixed date.  As King Charles was born in November, that may change, or may not, for some places.

26th January (controversial)

ANZAC Day = 25th April — Australia and New Zealand, but incorporating veterans of all nations from many wars.

11th November is a commemoration, but not a holiday / day off.  Labour Day is a holiday, but not fixed nationally.
5th November is celebrated (where fireworks are still allowed), but is not a day off type holiday.
You already mention Boxing Day, and the 1st January.

Other Australian fixed holidays are fixed days, but not fixed dates (such as Easter), so harder to pin down.

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Thanks, Melanie. The list is getting longer.

Answer 1

In Canada, we have Jan 1st, Jun 24th (St-Jean-Baptiste, Quebec only but they call it a national holiday, super important to them), July 1st (Canada Day), Sept 30th (National Day for Truth & Reconciliation - only a stat for federal government workers), Nov 11 (only a stat holiday for federal government workers), Dec 25, and Dec 26 (Boxing Day). Other holidays throughout the year, like Family Day in Feb, do not have fixed dates.

Comments

Thanks, Liza. You’ve added to a growing number of holidays.

Answer 2

See a few examples:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_holidays_in_the_United_Kingdom

https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/tax/public-holidays.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_holidays_in_France

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_holidays_in_Germany

My search: country name + holiday, country name + public holiday

Comments

Thanks, George. I appreciate you efforts to answer my question. Looking at the German holidays, I have to ask if anybody there gets any work done.

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I have all heard that Europeans take their holidays more “seriously” than us here in the States.

Answer 3

For New Zealand the fixed date are as below (Note: If they fall on the Weekend they are shifted to a Monday or sometimes Tuesday for 2 day public holidays, although this wasn't always the case for all of them)

* New Years day, 1st Jan

* Day after New Year’s Day 2nd Jan

* Waitangi Day 6th of Feb

* Anzac Day 25th of April

* Queen’s Birthday 6th of June (This one is changing next year though to Kings Birthday on the 5th of June)

* Christmas Day 25th of Dec

* Boxing Day 26th of Dec

Answer 4

Cinco de Mayo (5th of May) is a national holiday for Mexico, but apparently it is not officially celebrated everywhere in Mexico.

July 1st is Canada Day.

Some European nations commemorate the day they were liberated from German control as the end of World War II approached. For example, May 9th is Liberation Day in Guernsey and Jersey.

Answer 5

I use this Time and Date website for my holiday lookups... it is grouped by country.

The website has a lot of other useful information as well.

https://www.timeanddate.com/holidays/