Public holidays in France

Non-movable holidays

Non-statutory holidays are written in gray.

Moving Holidays in France

Day of Victory

Like many other countries involved in the Second World War, France has a holiday that dates back to its end. Every year, the "Day of Victory", or "Day of Armistice", commemorates the 8th of May 1945, the day on which the German troops capitulated, thus bringing about the end of the war. On this day the church bells ring all over France. The holiday was introduced in France in 1981.
The fact that some countries celebrate this day on 8 May, others on 9 May, is quite justified: The deed was signed on the night of May 9th, shortly after midnight German time. At that time summer time was in force in Germany, but not in all neighbouring countries, which is why some of them were still 1 hour behind and had a different date.

Special regulations in Alsace-Lorraine

By far the largest religious community in France is the Roman Catholic Church. In the areas of Alsace and Lorraine, which belonged to the German Reich from 1871 to 1918, some special regulations apply. Unlike in the rest of France, church and state are not separate here, but pastors, priests and also rabbis are civil servants. This is why these regions have been able to enforce the retention of public holidays, which do not apply in the rest of the country. As in Germany, these are Good Friday and the second day of Christmas.

French overseas territories

France has dependent overseas territories in the Caribbean (Martinique and Guadeloupe), South America (French Guiana) and the Indian Ocean (Réunion and Mayotte). Although these are now under partial self-government, French customs and also French legal requirements are still noticeable. All French public holidays also apply there. In addition, these overseas departments each have their own holiday to abolish slavery.