Holiday Days
Traditional holidays and special occasions
Explore all 101 holiday days and observances with full details including history, fun facts, and ideas for how to celebrate. Each entry includes upcoming dates, related occasions, and frequently asked questions to help you make the most of every holiday celebration throughout the year.
Leif Erikson Day
Mark Leif Erikson Day on its fixed U.S. date, October 9. The observance honors the Norse explorer credited with reaching North America…
Columbus Day
Columbus Day is a U.S. federal holiday observed on the second Monday in October. In 2026 that is Monday, October 12. It commemorates…
Indigenous Peoples Day
Observe Indigenous Peoples Day on the second Monday of October — Monday, October 12, 2026. Across a growing list of U.S. cities and states…
Canadian Thanksgiving
Share a harvest meal on Canadian Thanksgiving! The holiday falls on the second Monday of October — earlier than U.S. Thanksgiving in…
Navy Birthday
The Navy Birthday is the U.S. Navy's official heritage date on October 13. In 2026 that is Tuesday, October 13. It marks 13 October 1775…
Sweetest Day
Mark Sweetest Day on the third Saturday of October — Saturday, October 17, in 2026. Born in Cleveland candy promotions of the early 1920s…
Labour Day (New Zealand)
Labour Day in New Zealand is the fourth Monday in October — a national public holiday that grew from nineteenth-century campaigns for an…
Austrian National Day (Nationalfeiertag)
Observe Austrian National Day — Nationalfeiertag — on October 26, the anniversary of the 1955 constitutional law on permanent neutrality…
Halloween
Halloween is celebrated on October 31. In 2026 it falls on Saturday, October 31. It is not a U.S. federal holiday. Roots run from Celtic…
Dia de los Muertos
Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) is a Mexican cultural festival traditionally observed on November 1 and 2. In 2026 that span is…
Election Day
Vote on Election Day — and treat it as civic work, not a festival. In the United States, federal Election Day is the first Tuesday after…
Melbourne Cup Day
Melbourne Cup Day is the first Tuesday in November, when the Melbourne Cup is run at Flemington Racecourse in Melbourne. In Victoria it is…
Bonfire Night
Wrap up for Bonfire Night on 5 November. Also called Guy Fawkes Night, it is Britain’s autumn fireworks date — organised park displays…
Diwali
Diwali (also spelled Deepavali), the Festival of Lights, is a major festival observed by many Hindus, Sikhs, and Jains, with regional…
Remembrance Sunday
Pause for Remembrance Sunday — the second Sunday in November. Across the UK, communities gather at war memorials for the National Service…
Marine Corps Birthday
Mark the Marine Corps Birthday on November 10 — a civic anniversary, not a costume party. On that date in 1775 the Second Continental…
Veterans Day
Veterans Day is a U.S. federal holiday on November 11. In 2026 that is Wednesday, November 11. It grew from Armistice Day, marking the…
Remembrance Day
Pause at the eleventh hour on Remembrance Day. November 11 marks the Armistice that ended fighting on the Western Front in 1918, and in…
Thanksgiving Day
Thanksgiving Day in the United States is a federal holiday on the fourth Thursday of November. In 2026 that is Thursday, November 26. It is…
National Native American Heritage Day
Native American Heritage Day is observed on the Friday after Thanksgiving. In 2026 that is Friday, November 27. Congress designated that…
Hanukkah 2026
Hanukkah (also spelled Chanukah), the Festival of Lights, is an eight-night Jewish festival that begins on 25 Kislev in the Hebrew…
Finnish Independence Day
Light two candles for Finnish Independence Day — itsenäisyyspäivä — on December 6. Blue-and-white lights appear in windows across the dark…
Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day
Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day (National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day) is observed each year on December 7. In 2026 that is Monday, December…
World Basketball Day
World Basketball Day on December 21 is the United Nations date for the round-ball game James Naismith invented for a winter gym class. Lace…