Public holidays in Belgium

In Belgium there are ten official public holidays. Other particular days are also celebrated, but these are not official public holidays and employers are not obliged to give their employees a day off. However, some employers do award a day's holiday in accordance with union negotiations.

Public holidays
HolidayDateDutchFrenchGerman
New Year's Day January 1 Nieuwjaar Nouvel An Neujahr
Easter Monday Monday after Easter Paasmaandag Lundi de Pâques Ostermontag
Labour Day May 1 Dag van de arbeid Fête du Travail Tag der Arbeit
Ascension 39 days after Easter Onze Lieve Heer hemelvaart Ascension Christi Himmelfahrt
Pentecost Monday Monday after Pentecost Pinkstermaandag Lundi de Pentecôte Pfingstmontag
Belgian National Day July 21 Nationale feestdag Fête nationale Nationalfeiertag
Assumption of Mary August 15 Onze Lieve Vrouw hemelvaart Assomption Mariä Himmelfahrt
All Saints' Day November 1 Allerheiligen Toussaint Allerheiligen
Armistice Day November 11 Wapenstilstand Jour de l'Armistice Waffenstillstand
Christmas December 25 Kerstmis Noël Weihnachten

In addition to the above, the same legal text names all Sundays as public holidays (which is why Easter and Pentecost, which always fall on Sundays, are "feasted" by extending the Sunday holiday to the following Monday) but shops are free to select a different weekday as their "weekly closing day" if they wish; they must then declare near the entry to the shop which day it is: French "Jour de fermeture hebdomadaire: <dayname in French>" and/or Dutch "Wekelijke rustdag: <dayname in Dutch>".

Particular days celebrated in Belgium that are not official public holidays
HolidayDateDutchFrenchGerman
Epiphany January 6 Driekoningen Épiphanie Erscheinung des Herrn
Valentine's Day February 14 Valentijnsdag Saint-Valentin Valentinstag
Iris Day (in Brussels only) May 8 Irisfeest Fête de l'Iris —
Day of the Flemish Community (in Flanders only) July 11 Feest van de Vlaamse Gemeenschap Fête de la Communauté flamande —
French Community Holiday (in Wallonia only) September 27 Dag van de Franse Gemeenschap Fête de la Communauté française —
Day of the Walloon Region (in Wallonia only) third Sunday of September Feest van het Waalse Gewest Fête de la Région wallonne Festtag der Wallonischen Region
Halloween October 31 Halloween Halloween Halloween
All Souls' Day November 2 Allerzielen Toussaint Allerseelen
Day of the German-speaking Community November 15 Dag van de Duitstalige Gemeenschap Fête de la Communauté germanophone Tag der Deutschsprachigen Gemeinschaft
King's Feast Koningsdag Fête du Roi Festtag des Königs
Saint Nicholas December 6 Sinterklaas Saint-Nicolas Sankt Nikolaus
Second Day of Christmas December 26 Tweede kerstdag Lendemain de Noël 2. Weihnachtstag

The days of the three communities are holidays for their civil servants and for employees of institutions controlled, supervised or financed by them (e.g. municipalities, universities) and may also be observed by banks in the concerned community. King's feast is a holiday observed by all (i.e. federal, community or regional, provincial and local) administrations, including some of the schools they organize.

See also

References
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