Public Holidays in Switzerland: 2026 Calendar by Canton

The one public holiday that applies across all of Switzerland

Swiss National Day, on August 1st, is the only public holiday recognised in every canton by federal law. It commemorates the Federal Charter of 1291, the alliance between the original cantons of Uri, Schwyz and Unterwalden that is traditionally treated as the founding act of the Swiss Confederation.

In 2026, August 1st falls on a Saturday. Unless your employment contract or collective bargaining agreement provides otherwise, a public holiday that falls on a day you would not normally work does not automatically generate a replacement day off. It is worth checking your contract or asking your employer directly rather than assuming a substitute day applies.

Fixed and movable public holidays widely observed in 2026

Beyond August 1st, a group of holidays is recognised by most, though not all, cantons. Christian movable feasts follow the date of Easter, which falls on April 5th in 2026; the table below lists the resulting 2026 dates for the days you are most likely to encounter at work or in daily life.

Why the number of holidays differs so much between cantons

Because each canton legislates its own list, the total number of public holidays in a given year varies noticeably. Cantons with a strong historical Catholic tradition, such as Ticino, Valais or Jura, tend to recognise additional religious feast days, including Corpus Christi, Assumption and All Saints' Day, which pushes their yearly total toward the upper end of the range. Cantons such as Geneva, Vaud, Zurich or Bern typically sit closer to the lower end.

Some holidays exist in a single canton only. Geneva observes the Jeûne genevois (Geneva Fast), a Thursday in early September, and Restoration Day on December 31st, marking the canton's return to the Swiss Confederation in 1814; neither exists elsewhere. This means that a holiday calendar drawn up for a colleague in Zurich can genuinely mislead someone starting a role in Geneva, and vice versa.

For anyone coordinating a move, a start date or a team spread across several cantons, this patchwork is the single most common source of scheduling mistakes in the first year.

School holidays follow their own, separate cantonal calendar

Public holidays and school holidays are two different systems in Switzerland, set by different authorities and rarely aligned across cantons. Each canton's department of education, and in some cases individual communes, publishes its own academic calendar, generally covering an autumn break, a Christmas break, a winter or sport break in February, a spring break around Easter, and a longer summer break.

The exact start and end dates shift from canton to canton and from year to year, so families should always check the official calendar published by their canton or commune rather than relying on a neighbouring canton's dates, even a nearby one. This is particularly important in the first year, when a family may still be assuming holidays are set nationally.

In several cantons, taking children out of school outside the official holiday periods requires prior authorisation from the school, and unauthorised absences during term time can carry consequences. If you are planning travel, request approval and confirm the dates with the school well in advance.

Turning the 2026 calendar into extra time off

Several 2026 dates create natural opportunities for a longer break with minimal use of vacation days, in cantons where the relevant holiday is observed. Ascension Day falls on Thursday, May 14th; taking Friday, May 15th as a single vacation day creates a four-day weekend. Whit Monday, on May 25th, already forms a three-day weekend on its own.

Many employers close their offices between Christmas and New Year. Whether those days are deducted from your annual leave balance or granted in addition to it depends entirely on your employer and, where applicable, your collective bargaining agreement; there is no single rule across Switzerland, so this is worth confirming directly with your employer rather than assuming.

What Swiss law guarantees regardless of your canton

Cantonal public holidays sit on top of, and are separate from, your statutory paid vacation entitlement. Under the Swiss Code of Obligations, employees are entitled to a minimum of four weeks of paid vacation per year, rising to five weeks for employees under 20 years of age; many employment contracts and collective agreements provide more than this minimum.

Part-time employees are entitled to public holidays in proportion to their working schedule. If a public holiday falls on a day you would not normally work under your schedule, you are generally not entitled to a substitute day of pay or leave, unless your contract or collective agreement says otherwise. Because the details can vary by canton, sector and individual contract, it is worth reviewing your own employment agreement, or asking a specialist, rather than assuming a single Swiss-wide rule applies.