259 briefs · 13 compares · 23 regions
Every holiday, in its own words.
Today
Thursday, October 22, 2026
No federal or major public holiday observed today across tracked regions.
Coming up this season
Full calendarPublic holidays across the fifteen countries and lunar festivals we cover, with fixed-date holidays pulled live from Nager.Date and lunar dates from each brief's published calendar tables. Refreshes on every visit.
| Date | In | Holiday | Local name |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 31, 2026in 8d | DE | Reformation Day | Reformationstag |
| Nov 1, 2026in 9d | DE | All Saints' Day | Allerheiligen |
| Nov 3, 2026in 11d | AU | Melbourne Cup | Melbourne Cup |
| Nov 3, 2026in 11d | US | Election Day (US) | Election Day (US) |
| Nov 8, 2026in 16d | IN | Diwali | Diwali |
| Nov 11, 2026in 19d | US | Veterans Day | Veterans Day |
| Nov 11, 2026in 19d | CA | Armistice Day | Armistice Day |
| Nov 11, 2026in 19d | CA | Remembrance Day | Remembrance Day |
| Nov 18, 2026in 26d | DE | Repentance and Prayer Day | Buß- und Bettag |
| Nov 24, 2026in 32d | IN | Guru Nanak Jayanti | Guru Nanak Jayanti |
Live data from Nager.Date (100+ countries). Refreshed hourly.
Holiday news roundup
Curated · reviewedFeatured briefs
See all 259Makha Bucha - the full-moon day of the first lunar month, kept across Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar and Sri Lanka
Makha Bucha is the full-moon day of the first lunar month, celebrated by Theravada Buddhists across Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar and Sri Lanka. It commemorates the spontaneous gathering of 1,250 arahants before the Buddha.
Bon Om Touk - the Cambodian water festival, when racing boats and candle offerings fill the Tonle Sap
Bon Om Touk, the Cambodian Water Festival, marks the reversal of the Mekong flood in the twelfth lunar month. Hundreds of thousands gather in Phnom Penh to race long low-slung racing boats and float candle offerings on the Tonle Sap.
Thingyan - the Burmese water festival, a fixed four-day new year of pouring water and gilded pagodas
Thingyan is the Burmese water festival and Burmese New Year, held over four days from 13 to 16 April. Water is poured over elders and Buddha images for purification, and the dates are a fixed civil holiday rather than a lunar one.
Naadam - the Mongolian National Games, three days of wrestling, horse racing and throat singing on the steppe
Naadam is Mongolia's national festival, held over three days from 11 to 13 July. It combines the Three Games of Men - wrestling, horse racing and archery - with the opening ceremony and a public holiday across the country.
Tsagaan Sar - the Mongolian lunar new year, where the first morning of the year is greeted with a pinch of salt
Tsagaan Sar is the Mongolian lunar new year, marking the first day of the first month of the traditional Mongolian calendar. The celebration runs across the whole lunar month and centres on the Sun Moon and Khadag gifts given to elders.
Seollal - the Korean lunar new year, three days of ancestral rites, tteokguk and returning to your ancestral hometown
Seollal is the Korean lunar new year, observed over three days in late January or February. It centres on ancestral rites, eating tteokguk, and the custom of returning to one's ancestral hometown - ibyeong - for the new year.
Side-by-side comparisons
US Thanksgiving vs Canadian Thanksgiving - same name, six weeks apart, different origins
Both Thanksgivings share the harvest-festival root but differ on origin, date, framing, and contested history. Side-by-side comparison with primary sources.
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Columbus Day vs Indigenous Peoples Day - same date, two civic frames
Same Monday in October, but different civic story. One frames it as a celebration of Italian-American heritage and the encounter of Old and New World; the other frames it as a day of mourning or recognition of the impact of colonization on Indigenous peoples. Side-by-side comparison.
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Memorial Day vs Veterans Day - same colors, different honor, six months apart
Memorial Day honors US service members who died in military service (last Monday of May). Veterans Day honors all who served, living or deceased (November 11). Both are federal holidays under 5 U.S.C. 6103, but they commemorate different populations.
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Bastille Day vs Independence Day - two national revolutions, ten days apart on the calendar
Bastille Day (France, July 14) and Independence Day (US, July 4) are national civic holidays ten days apart, both tied to revolutionary origins. Side-by-side comparison with primary sources on origins, date, observance, and contested history.
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Lunar New Year vs Mid-Autumn Festival - the two anchor festivals of the East Asian lunar calendar
Lunar New Year (1st day of 1st lunar month) and Mid-Autumn Festival (15th day of 8th lunar month) are the two anchor festivals of the East Asian lunar calendar. Both are family-reunion observances with full-moon symbolism, but differ in scale, ritual, and cultural meaning.
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Hanukkah vs Diwali - two autumn festivals of light, on different calendars, with different kinds of miracles
Hanukkah and Diwali are both autumn festivals of light celebrated by major world religions (Judaism and Hinduism) and observed by diaspora communities worldwide. Side-by-side comparison with primary sources, including the date math, the candle/lamp tradition, and the modern observance footprint.
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Passover vs Eid al-Fitr - two spring festivals, one lunar, one family-meal centric
Passover (Pesach) and Eid al-Fitr are both major spring observances on the Hebrew and Islamic lunar calendars respectively, both involving family meals, religious reflection, and a multi-day observance. Side-by-side comparison with dates, observance, and the contested politics of each.
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Day of the Dead vs Halloween - same week, completely different relationships with the dead
Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) and Halloween are both observed in the last days of October and the first days of November, both engage with death as a theme, but the two holidays have very different origins, tones, and cultural work to do. Side-by-side comparison with the date math and the contrasting ritual structures.
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Lunar New Year vs New Year - same new-year, two calendars, very different social weeks
Lunar New Year and Gregorian New Year (January 1) are both new-year observances, on different calendars, with different observance lengths, foods, and social rhythms. Side-by-side comparison covering the date math, the family-migration footprint, and the cultural work each does.
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Diwali vs Holi - two Hindu festivals, opposite seasons, opposite tones
Diwali and Holi are the two largest Hindu festivals of the year, on the Hindu lunisolar calendar, with opposite seasons (autumn vs spring), opposite tones (light-and-order vs color-and-chaos), and opposite social focuses (home-and-family vs community-and-outdoors). Side-by-side comparison.
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Eid al-Fitr vs Eid al-Adha - the two Islamic holidays, both rooted in the Prophet Muhammad's example, with different ritual structures
Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha are the two major Islamic holidays of the year on the Hijri lunar calendar, both anchored in the Prophet Muhammad's practice, both involving community prayer and family gathering, but with different ritual structures (fast-breaking vs sacrifice) and different positions in the year.
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Cinco de Mayo vs Mexican Independence Day - what the US thinks Mexico celebrates, vs what Mexico actually celebrates
Cinco de Mayo (May 5) and Mexican Independence Day (September 16) are very different holidays, in very different months, with very different histories, and the US celebration of Cinco de Mayo is much larger than the Mexican one. Side-by-side comparison of the two dates, their actual observance, and the surprising commercial footprint of the US Cinco de Mayo.
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ANZAC Day vs Memorial Day - two military memorial days, one dawn-service, one summer-vacation anchor
ANZAC Day (April 25) and US Memorial Day (last Monday of May) are both major military memorial days in their respective countries, both observed with formal ceremonies and public recognition, but the two have very different tones (solemn dawn service vs patriotic long-weekend) and very different ritual structures.
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Pick a region
United States
United States
Eleven federal holidays, a patchwork of state observances, and several federal days that have generated active replacement or rename movements (Columbus Day, Juneteenth).
View United States calendar
Canada
Canada
Five federal statutory holidays in most provinces, plus provincial days. Thanksgiving sits in October - six weeks earlier than the US holiday.
View Canada calendar
Germany
Germany
Nine nationwide Feiertage, with Reformation Day (October 31) observed in Brandenburg, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Sachsen, Sachsen-Anhalt, and Thuringen but not in the other 11 states.
View Germany calendar
United Kingdom
United Kingdom
Eight permanent bank holidays in England and Wales, with Scotland and Northern Ireland each having additional devolved holidays. Royal proclamations can declare one-off special days.
View United Kingdom calendar
India
India
Three national gazetted holidays (Republic Day, Independence Day, Gandhi Jayanti), with most other holidays declared state-by-state. India follows a multi-religious calendar including Hindu, Muslim, Christian, Sikh, Buddhist, and Jain observances.
View India calendar
China
China
Seven statutory public holidays observed nationwide, with Lunar New Year (Chunjie) and National Day (October 1) bracketed by weekend adjustment days to create 7-day blocks.
View China calendar
France
France
Code du travail sets 11 statutory jours feries. Alsace-Moselle observes Good Friday and Saint-Étienne; overseas territories layer on local observances.
View France calendar
Japan
Japan
The Cabinet Office designates 16 national holidays under the Holidays Act of 1948 (amended). Golden Week is a de facto 4-day cluster; substitute holidays apply when a national holiday falls on a Sunday.
View Japan calendar
Mexico
Mexico
Ley Federal del Trabajo Article 74 sets 8 mandatory holidays. The 5-week Guadalupe-Reyes season runs December 12 through January 6 with multiple civic and religious observances.
View Mexico calendar
Italy
Italy
Legge 27 maggio 1949 n. 260 sets 10 civil national holidays. Cities add patron saints; Ferragosto (August 15) is the heaviest domestic travel day of the year.
View Italy calendar
Spain
Spain
The BOE annual calendar sets 10 national holidays plus 2 per autonomous community. Each of 17 comunidades adds its own dia de la comunidad; cities layer on fiesta patronal.
View Spain calendar
Australia
Australia
Eight national public holidays under the Public Holidays Act, plus state-day and territory-day additions. ANZAC Day and Australia Day anchor the calendar; state and territory public holidays diverge significantly.
View Australia calendar
South Korea
South Korea
South Korea's national public holidays are dominated by two cluster periods around the lunar calendar: Seollal (Lunar New Year) and Chuseok (the autumn harvest festival). Each cluster runs 3-5 days with substitute holiday rules; they account for the bulk of the year's mass-migration traffic on highways and KTX rail.
View South Korea calendar
Brazil
Brazil
Brazil observes 8 mandatory federal holidays under Lei Federal do Trabalho no. 662/1949 (as amended). Major regional observances include Festa Junina (June-July), Dia da Consciencia Negra (Nov 20), and Finados (Nov 2).
View Brazil calendar
Indonesia
Indonesia
Sixteen national public holidays (libur nasional) recognised under Keputusan Presiden 24/2016, with two large observance clusters (Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha) and the Pancasilan framework. Indonesian + English, side-by-side.
View Indonesia calendar
Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan's federal calendar layers three federal civic holidays (Pakistan Day, Independence Day, Iqbal Day) on top of the Islamic lunar calendar, which produces the heaviest observance clusters around Eid al-Fitr, Eid al-Adha, and the Prophet's birthday. Provincial and cultural days add further variety to the year.
View Pakistan calendar
Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines has a two-tier holiday system: regular holidays (typically 12 per year, with paid days off) and special non-working days (with no premium pay but government-mandated closure). The country holds the world's longest Christmas season, beginning as early as September and culminating on January 6 (Feast of the Epiphany).
View Philippines calendar
Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam observes 11 federal public holidays anchored on the Gregorian and lunar calendars. Tet (Lunar New Year) is the heaviest observance cluster, with 5-6 days off. The Hung Kings Commemoration on the 10th day of the 3rd lunar month is the country's ancestral-founder festival and a unique fixed-date lunar observance.
View Vietnam calendar
Türkiye
Turkey
Turkey observes 9 federal public holidays anchored on the Gregorian and Islamic lunar calendars. Republic Day (October 29) and the broader civic-military calendar mark the 1923 founding of the Republic, while Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha generate the heaviest observance clusters. All Islamic and most civic holidays are paid days off for the country's 30M+ workforce.
View Türkiye calendar
Ireland
Ireland
Ireland has ten public holidays under the Public Holidays Acts, nine of which are also bank holidays. St Brigid's Day joined the calendar in 2023, and the older eight-day Celtic solar cycle sits alongside it.
View Ireland calendar
Israel
Israel
Israel's statutory holidays are defined by the Hours of Work and Rest Law rather than a holidays act. Eleven days of rest are Hebrew-only, run sunset to sunset, and were widened in 2019 to include Yom Kippur.
View Israel calendar
Thailand
Thailand
Thailand sets its public holidays annually by royal decree rather than by standing statute, and the calendar is dominated by royal and Buddhist dates. Labour Day and Asarnha Bucha were restored in 2024.
View Thailand calendar
New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand has 11 nationwide public holidays under the Holidays Act 2003, plus province anniversary dates that vary annually. Matariki joined the statutory calendar in 2022 as the first new holiday in a decade.
View New Zealand calendar
Frequently asked questions
What is Holiday Brief?
Holiday Brief is an independent reference site that explains the origins, dates, customs, and civic context of holidays, festivals, and public days around the world. We are not affiliated with any government, religious organization, or commercial brand.
How is Holiday Brief different from a calendar app?
A calendar app tells you when a holiday falls. Holiday Brief explains what it is, where it is observed, why it is contested in some places, and how it differs from neighbouring celebrations. Each entry is a written brief, not a date stamp.
Where does the information come from?
Holiday dates are sourced from Nager.Date, a public holiday API that mirrors government gazettes. Cultural context, origins, and controversies are sourced from Wikipedia and primary government publications, with every claim linked at the bottom of each brief.
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Last editorial review: 2026-10-22 · canonical home: https://holiday-6du.pages.dev