Holidays

holidays in France

As in Germany, there are of course a certain number of public holidays in France, on which a particular historical or social event is commemorated or religious festivals are celebrated. Typically, there is a special holiday rest on public holidays throughout Europe, so that the majority of the population does not have to work. A distinction must be made between fixed holidays, which always take place on a precisely fixed date, and floating holidays, which are celebrated on a different calendar day each year.

Overview

New Year’s Day (Jour de l'An): January 1

Kariffritag (Vendredi Saint; in Bas-Rhin, Haut-Rhin and Moselle): two days after Easter Sunday

Easter Monday: one day after Easter Sunday

Abolition of slavery (Abolition de l'esclavage): April 27 (Mayotte)

Days of Work (Fête du travail): 1 May

Victory Day (Victoire 1945, Fête de la Victoire): 8 May

Abolition of Slavery (Abolition de l'esclavage): May 22 (Martinique)

Abolition of slavery (Abolition de l'esclavage): May 27 (Guadeloupe)

Ascension Day (Ascension): 39 days after Easter Sunday

Pentecost (Pentecôte): 49 days after Easter Sunday

Pentecost Monday (Lundi de Pentecôte): 50 days after Easter Sunday

Abolition of Slavery (Abolition de l'esclavage): 10 June (French Guiana)

French National Day (Fête Nationale): 14 July

Assumption Day (Assomption) August 15

All Saints’ Day (Toussaint) November 1

Compiègne Armistice (Armistice 1918): 11 November

Abolition of Slavery (Abolition de l'esclavage): 20 December (La Réunion)

1st Christmas Day (Noël): December 25

2nd Christmas Day (Lendemain de Noël; in Bas-Rhin, Haut-Rhin and Moselle): 26 December

Worth knowing about the selected holidays

Holidays in France

As a rule, movable holidays are part of the church year, which follows the lunar calendar of Jewish tradition. This is also the case in France. Apart from Christmas and the Day of Prayer and Repentance, which is now neither in France nor in Germany – the only exception is the Free State of Saxony – a public holiday, many of these holidays depend on Easter. This always takes place on the first Sunday after the first full moon in spring.

In today’s universal Gregorian calendar, that occurs sometime between March 22 and April 25. Due to the difference between the lunar calendar and the Gregorian calendar, it always comes in dependence on Easter to the shifts in the movable holidays. Thereby these movable holidays are by no means in every case also legal holidays at the same time.

Legal holidays of the ecclesiastical year in France

In addition to Christmas, church holidays that are also public holidays include Easter Monday (Lundi de Pâques), which always immediately follows Easter Sunday, Good Friday (Vendredi Saint) three days before, Ascension Day (Ascension) and Pentecost (Pentecôte), as well as Assumption Day (Assomption) and All Saints’ Day (Toussaint). Ascension Day is always celebrated exactly 39 days and Pentecost 49 days after Easter Sunday. This includes Whit Monday (Lundi de Pentecôte) again one day later.

A peculiarity of Good Friday is that it is a public holiday only in the region of Alsace and parts of Lorraine, more precisely in the departments of Bas-Rhin, Haut-Rhin and Moselle. Whit Monday, on the other hand, was not a public holiday in France from 2004 to 2008, until popular protests led to its reintroduction. Assumption Day and All Saints’ Day are fixed holidays in the church calendar and are scheduled for 15 August and 1 November respectively.

Christmas as a public holiday in France

As we all know, Christmas is a fixed date in the church year. The 1st day of Christmas (Noël) on December 25 is a public holiday everywhere in France. However, the 2nd Christmas Day (Lendemain de Noël, also: Saint Etienne or Saint Stéphane) has the same peculiarity as Good Friday. Because while 26 December is also a public holiday throughout Germany, the 2nd Christmas Day is a public holiday only in the Départemens Bas-Rhin, Haut-Rhin and Moselle.

Once again, the floating holidays with public holiday status in France are Good Friday (only in Bas-Rhin, Haut-Rhin and Moselle), Easter Monday, Ascension Day and Whitsun. Easter Sunday, as a Sunday with statutory Sunday rest, is off work anyway. Fixed church holidays in France are Christmas Day and Boxing Day (only in Bas-Rhin, Haut-Rhin and Moselle) as well as Assumption Day and All Saints’ Day.

Festive holidays in France

Fixed holidays with a religious motivation, then, are Assumption Day and All Saints Day, in addition to Christmas Day 1 and 2 on December 25 and 26 each year. Now, in France there are of course also fixed holidays outside the church calendar. Those always take place on the same date of the year and are protected by law.

Fixed holidays without a religious background include the first day of the year, New Year’s Day (Jour de l'An), Labour Day (Fête du travail) on 1 May and the French National Holiday (Fête Nationale de la France) on 14 July.

While 1 January and 1 May are also public holidays in Germany, the French National Day is obviously a specifically French holiday. However, it is not the only one, as the French celebrate Victory Day (Victoire 1945 or Fête de la Victoire) on 8 May and the Armistice of Compiègne of 1918 (Armistice 1918) on 11 November nationwide. With one exception, this would name France’s fixed holidays.

A special holiday of the overseas departments

France has a total of five overseas departments. These are Guadeloupe (since 1946), Martinique (since 1946), La Réunion (since 1946) and French Guiana (since 1947), and Mayotte since 2011. In each of these departments, there is another fixed holiday commemorating the abolition of slavery (Abolition de l’esclavage). It takes place in Mayotte on 27 April, in Martinique on 22 May, in Guadeloupe on 27 May, in French Guiana on 10 June and in La Réunion on 20 December.