Federal Holidays 2026

What’s special about 2026

• America’s 250th birthday. July 4, 2026 marks 250 years since the Declaration of Independence was adopted. The anniversary falls on a Saturday, so federal offices close on Friday, July 3, while the national celebrations take place on the 4th itself. Expect heavy travel and early hotel bookings around that weekend.
• Three Friday holidays. Juneteenth, the observed Independence Day and Christmas all land on Fridays, giving three long weekends that start on a holiday instead of ending with one.
• New Year’s Day is a Thursday. Friday, January 2 is a regular workday for federal employees, but many private employers and schools close, making it one of the most requested vacation days of the year.
• Midterm elections. Election Day, Tuesday, November 3, 2026, is not a federal holiday. Some states and employers give time off to vote, so check your state’s rules.
• Memorial Day and Labor Day at the extremes. Memorial Day falls on May 25, the earliest date it can occur, and Labor Day falls on September 7, the latest it can occur. That stretches the unofficial summer between them to the longest it gets, 105 days.
• Back-to-back holiday weekends to end the year. Christmas Day and New Year’s Day 2027 both fall on Fridays, so late December has two consecutive three-day weekends: December 25–27 and January 1–3.
• A midweek Veterans Day. November 11 falls on a Wednesday, so it breaks up the week instead of making a long weekend. Offices close for the day while most stock markets and many private employers stay open.
• A normal-length year. 2026 is not a leap year, and it has 250 business days once weekends and the 11 federal holidays are removed.

Holidays that move in 2026

• Independence Day falls on a Saturday, so the federal day off is Friday, Friday, July 3, 2026.

Add these holidays to Google Calendar, Apple Calendar or Outlook →

Bank holidays in 2026

Banks follow the Federal Reserve’s holiday calendar, which includes the same 11 holidays with one difference: the Fed does not close on the Friday before a Saturday holiday, but does close on the Monday after a Sunday holiday.

• Friday, July 3, 2026: federal offices are closed for Independence Day, but the Federal Reserve and most banks are open.

Stock markets set their own calendar: the NYSE and Nasdaq stay open on Columbus Day and Veterans Day and close on Good Friday.

Three-day weekends in 2026

8 federal days off fall on a Monday or Friday:

• Martin Luther King Jr. Day: Monday, Jan 19
• Washington’s Birthday (Presidents Day): Monday, Feb 16
• Memorial Day: Monday, May 25
• Juneteenth National Independence Day: Friday, Jun 19
• Independence Day: Friday, Jul 3
• Labor Day: Monday, Sep 7
• Columbus Day: Monday, Oct 12
• Christmas Day: Friday, Dec 25

Thanksgiving is always a Thursday, so taking Friday off gives a four-day weekend.

Business days per month in 2026

Weekdays minus federal holidays, for payroll, billing and project planning. There are 250 business days in 2026.