Public holidays in Switzerland

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

[5]
Holiday
Variable?
Date Aargau
AG
Appenzell Innerrhoden
AI
Appenzell Ausserrhoden
AR
Basel-Landschaft
BL
Basel-Stadt
BS
Canton of Bern
BE
Canton of Fribourg
FR
Canton of Geneva
GE
Canton of Glarus
GL
Grisons
GR
Canton of Jura
JU
Canton of Lucerne
LU
Canton of Neuchâtel
NE
Nidwalden
NW
Obwalden
OW
Canton of St. Gallen
SG
Canton of Schaffhausen
SH
Canton of Schwyz
SZ
Canton of Solothurn
SO
Thurgau
TG
Ticino
TI
Canton of Uri
UR
Valais
VS
Vaud
VD
Canton of Zug
ZG
Canton of Zürich
ZH
Number of
cantons
2024 2025 2026 2027
New Year's Day N 1 January checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY 26 1 January 2024 1 January 2025 1 January 2026 1 January 2027
Berchtold's Day N 2 January checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY 14 2 January 2024 2 January 2025 2 January 2026 2 January 2027
Epiphany N 6 January checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY 5 6 January 2024 6 January 2025 6 January 2026 6 January 2027
Republic Day N 1 March checkY 1 1 March 2024 1 March 2025 1 March 2026 1 March 2027
St Joseph's Day N 19 March checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY 8 19 March 2024 19 March 2025 19 March 2026 19 March 2027
Näfels Ride N First Thursday in April checkY 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 checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY [3] checkY [3] checkY checkY checkY 24 2024 2025 2026 2027
Easter Monday Y Easter Sunday + 1 d checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY 25 1 April (2024-04-01) 2024 21 April (2025-04-21) 2025 6 April (2026-04-06) 2026 29 March (2027-03-29) 2027
Labour Day N 1 May checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY 11 1 May 2024 1 May 2025 1 May 2026 1 May 2027
Ascension Day Y Easter Sunday + 39 d checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY 26 9 May (2024-05-09) 2024 29 May (2025-05-29) 2025 14 May (2026-05-14) 2026 6 May (2027-05-06) 2027
Whit Monday Y Easter Sunday + 50 d checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY 25 20 May (2024-05-20) 2024 9 June (2025-06-09) 2025 25 May (2026-05-25) 2026 17 May (2027-05-17) 2027
Corpus Christi Y Easter Sunday + 60 d checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY 14 30 May (2024-05-30) 2024 19 June (2025-06-19) 2025 4 June (2026-06-04) 2026 27 May (2027-05-27) 2027
Saints Peter and Paul N 29 June [4] [4] checkY 1 29 June 2024 29 June 2025 29 June 2026 29 June 2027
Swiss National Day N 1 August checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY 26 1 August 2024 1 August 2025 1 August 2026 1 August 2027
Assumption Day N 15 August checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY 12 15 August 2024 15 August 2025 15 August 2026 15 August 2027
Jeûne genevois Y Thursday after First Sunday in September checkY 1 2024 2025 2026 2027
Lundi du Jeûne (Monday after previous) Y Day after Third Sunday in September checkY 1 2024 2025 2026 2027
Saint Nicholas of Flüe Day N 25 September checkY 1 25 September 2024 25 September 2025 25 September 2026 25 September 2027
All Saints Day N 1 November checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY 15 1 November 2024 1 November 2025 1 November 2026 1 November 2027
Immaculate Conception N 8 December checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY 13 8 December 2024 8 December 2025 8 December 2026 8 December 2027
Christmas Day N 25 December checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY 26 25 December 2024 25 December 2025 25 December 2026 25 December 2027
St Stephen's Day N 26 December checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY checkY 21 26 December 2024 26 December 2025 26 December 2026 26 December 2027
Restoration Day N 31 December checkY 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

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

  1. ^ Swiss National Day
  2. ^ "Familienurlaub Ratgeber". Interhome.ch. Retrieved 18 August 2014.
  3. ^ a b most stores are closed, despite the day not being a public holiday
  4. ^ a b some areas
  5. ^ https://www.bj.admin.ch/dam/bj/de/data/publiservice/service/zivilprozessrecht/kant-feiertage.pdf.download.pdf/kant-feiertage.pdf

External links

  • 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.
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