Public holidays in Finland
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All official
In addition to this all Sundays are official holidays but they are not as important as the special holidays. The names of the Sundays follow the
Several Christian holidays traditionally falling on working days or on fixed dates have been moved to Saturdays and Sundays. In 1955, Midsummer day was moved to the Saturday following 19 June, the feast of the
Tradition
Christmas Eve and Midsummer Eve might very well be the single most important holidays during the entire year for Finns. Surprisingly they are not officially called holidays and are not so marked in calendars, but for most people, are not working days, and in practice they differ from official holidays only in that most shops are open on those days from early morning till noon. They hold this de facto status partly due to some statements in legislation but also because most employment contracts provides for these days as full holidays. A number of the less important main holidays are also preceded by de facto half days, meaning that in some (but not all) offices working hours are then shorter than normally. These are Maundy Thursday, the day before May Day and New Year's Eve.
Already before the 5 days working week was generally adopted in Finland in the late 1960s, working hours in most cases were shorter on Saturdays (4...5 h) than on other weekdays (8 h), but they were equally shorter also on all eves of public holidays, for example on the eve of Epiphany, the eve of All Saints' Day, and even including Christmas Eve and Midsummer Eve. But when Saturdays ceased to be working days, new contracts removed these shortenings from other holiday eves, except from Midsummer and Christmas Eve which also became de facto holidays.
The Finnish calendar also provides for special flag flying days. A day's status as a flag flying day has no formal link with an eventual status as an official or as a de facto holiday. However, May Day, Midsummer Day and Independence Day have the status of both a flag flying day and a public holiday. Midsummer Day is also Flag Day.
Finland has an official
List of holidays
| Date | English Name | Local Name – Finnish | Local Name – Swedish | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 January | New Year's Day | Uudenvuodenpäivä | Nyårsdagen | |
| 6 January | Epiphany
|
Loppiainen | Trettondedagen | |
| Moveable Friday | Good Friday | Pitkäperjantai | Långfredagen | The Friday before Easter Sunday |
| Moveable Sunday | Easter Sunday
|
Pääsiäispäivä | Påskdagen | |
| Moveable Monday | Easter Monday | 2. pääsiäispäivä | Annandag påsk | The day after Easter Sunday |
| 1 May | May Day | Vappu | Första maj | See Walpurgis Night |
| Moveable Thursday | Ascension Day
|
Helatorstai | Kristi himmelfärdsdag | 39 days after Easter Sunday |
| Moveable Sunday | Pentecost Sunday
|
Helluntaipäivä | Pingst | 49 days after Easter Sunday |
| Friday between 19 and 25 June | Midsummer Eve | Juhannusaatto | Midsommarafton | Non-official – Non-business day in the Annual Holidays Act (162/2005) – holiday in some collective labor agreements |
| Saturday between 20 and 26 June | Midsummer Day | Juhannuspäivä | Midsommardagen | Moved from 24 June |
| Saturday between 31 October and 6 November | All Saints' Day | Pyhäinpäivä | Alla helgons dag | Moved from 1 November |
| 6 December | Independence Day
|
Itsenäisyyspäivä | Självständighetsdagen | |
| 24 December | Christmas Eve | Jouluaatto | Julafton | Non-official – Non-business day in the Annual Holidays Act (162/2005) – holiday in some collective labor agreements |
| 25 December | Christmas Day
|
Joulupäivä
|
Juldagen | |
| 26 December | Second Day of Christmas
|
2. joulupäivä or tapaninpäivä
|
Annandag jul |
See also
- Flag flying days in Finland
- Namesdays in Finland
- Tourism in Finland
References
- ^ "Flag Days and Holidays – Yliopiston almanakkatoimisto". Almanakka.helsinki.fi. Archived from the original on 18 June 2019. Retrieved 24 December 2017.