Belgium public holidays 2026

2026 at a glance

• Assumption Day falls on Saturday 15 August and no substitute weekday is counted; All Saints' Day falls on Sunday 1 November and no substitute weekday is counted.
• In 2026, public holidays fall on 8 weekdays in Belgium, one fewer than in 2025.

In Belgium, when a public holiday falls on a Sunday or on a day the employee does not normally work, the employer must give a replacement day, set by the joint committee, the work rules or an agreement with the staff. These counts subtract no replacement day; if yours falls in the period, count one working day fewer.

Public holidays in 2026

12 dates are counted as non-working in Belgium in 2026; 8 of them fall on a weekday.

• not counted some employers only

Also observed by some

3 more days are holidays only for some employers, sectors or areas in 2026. They are not counted as non-working days here.

Working days and hours by month

Working days are Monday to Friday minus the counted holidays. Hours are shown for a 7.5-hour and an 8-hour working day.

• Jan 21 working days in January, 1 holiday
• Feb 20 working days in February
• Mar 22 working days in March
• Apr 21 working days in April, 2 holidays
• May 18 working days in May, 4 holidays
• Jun 22 working days in June
• Jul 22 working days in July, 1 holiday
• Aug 21 working days in August, 1 holiday
• Sep 22 working days in September
• Oct 22 working days in October
• Nov 20 working days in November, 2 holidays
• Dec 22 working days in December, 1 holiday

Long weekends in 2026

Runs of three or more days off in a row without taking leave.

• 3 days Saturday 4 April 2026 to Monday 6 April 2026
• 3 days Friday 1 May 2026 to Sunday 3 May 2026
• 3 days Saturday 23 May 2026 to Monday 25 May 2026
• 3 days Friday 25 December 2026 to Sunday 27 December 2026

Best days to take leave in 2026

The longest single break for each number of leave days, built around a public holiday.

Leave plans for the whole year

Non-overlapping breaks that give the most days off for a given number of leave days.

Try any budget from 1 to 30 days in the leave planner

Countdown

The days to the next holiday appear here when JavaScript is on.

The working days left this month and this year appear here when JavaScript is on.

Count working days between two dates

Calendar and data downloads

The subscription works in Google Calendar, Outlook and Apple Calendar. The CSV file also lists the days observed by some.

About public holidays in Belgium

Belgium has ten legal public holidays, called jours fériés or feestdagen. They are New Year's Day, Easter Monday, Labour Day (1 May), Ascension Day, Whit Monday, the Belgian National Day (21 July), Assumption Day (15 August), All Saints' Day (1 November), Armistice Day (11 November) and Christmas Day. The list is the same in Flanders, Wallonia and Brussels, because employment law is a federal matter. The regional community holidays, such as 11 July in Flanders and 27 September in Wallonia, are not days off for private-sector employees and are not counted here.

Belgian law handles weekends differently from most countries. When a public holiday falls on a Sunday or on a day the business does not normally work, the employee is entitled to a replacement day. The Federal Public Service for Employment says it must be fixed on a normal working day of the company. What the law does not do is name a date. The replacement day is agreed through the joint committee, the works council or the company's own arrangements, and employers are expected to post the chosen days before 15 December of the previous year. If nothing is fixed, the usual fallback is the next working day.

Because that date differs from one workplace to another, these counts subtract no replacement day. Easter Sunday and Whit Sunday are Sundays, and the rest of the weekend holidays keep their weekday as a working day on this site. If your replacement day lands in the period you are counting, take one working day off the total.

Some days are listed but not counted. Good Friday, the Friday after Ascension Day and 26 December are bank holidays: banks and a number of employers close, but employees have no legal right to the day. Carnival, the Walloon and Flemish community days, and 24 and 31 December are not public holidays either and are not counted.

Source and last check

Dates are calculated with the python-holidays library 0.108 and checked against the official sources below. Last checked: 15 November 2026.

Sources

• https://emploi.belgique.be/fr/themes/jours-feries-et-conges/jours-feries

How the counts are made