Public holidays in France

Non-floating holidays

Non-statutory holidays are written in gray.

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 May 8th, 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 May 8th, while others celebrate on May 9th is quite justified: The surrender 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 one 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 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 French legal requirements are still noticeable. All French public holidays also apply there. In addition, these overseas departments each have their own holiday celebrating the abolition of slavery.