Public holidays 2026 in Benin
There are 14 public holidays in 2026.
Download calendar file (.ics) For Outlook, Google Calendar and Apple Calendar; all-day events.
| Date | Weekday | Holiday | Local name | Countdown |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thursday | New Year's Day | Fête du Nouvel An | ||
| Thursday | Vodoun Festival | Fête annuelle des religions traditionnelles | ||
| Friday | Vodoun Festival | Fête annuelle des religions traditionnelles | ||
| Friday | Eid al-Fitr (estimated) | Jour du Ramadan (estimé) | ||
| Monday | Easter Monday | Lundi de Pâques | ||
| Friday | Labor Day | Fête du Travail | ||
| Thursday | Ascension Day | Jour de l'Ascension | ||
| Monday | Pentecost Monday | Lundi de Pentecôte | ||
| Wednesday | Eid al-Adha (estimated) | Jour de la Tabaski (estimé) | ||
| Saturday | National Day | Fête Nationale | ||
| Saturday | Assumption Day | Jour de l'Assomption | ||
| Tuesday | Prophet's Birthday (estimated) | Journée Maouloud (estimé) | ||
| Sunday | All Saints' Day | La Toussaint | ||
| Friday | Christmas Day | Jour de Noël |
Days marked "observed" are substitute days off when a holiday falls on a weekend. Holidays based on a lunar calendar can shift by a day once the official announcement is made.
Long weekends 2026
13 times a public holiday lies close to a weekend – with a little leave it becomes a long weekend:
| Take leave | Off | Days of leave | Days off | Ratio | Occasion |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fri 2 Jan | 1 Jan – 4 Jan 2026 | 1 | 4 | 4 | New Year's Day |
| Mon 5 Jan, Tue 6 Jan, Wed 7 Jan | 3 Jan – 11 Jan 2026 | 3 | 9 | 3 | Vodoun Festival, Vodoun Festival |
| Mon 16 Mar, Tue 17 Mar, Wed 18 Mar, Thu 19 Mar | 14 Mar – 22 Mar 2026 | 4 | 9 | 2.3 | Eid al-Fitr (estimated) |
| Tue 7 Apr, Wed 8 Apr, Thu 9 Apr, Fri 10 Apr | 4 Apr – 12 Apr 2026 | 4 | 9 | 2.3 | Easter Monday |
| Mon 27 Apr, Tue 28 Apr, Wed 29 Apr, Thu 30 Apr | 25 Apr – 3 May 2026 | 4 | 9 | 2.3 | Labor Day |
| Mon 11 May, Tue 12 May, Wed 13 May | 9 May – 14 May 2026 | 3 | 6 | 2 | Ascension Day |
| Fri 15 May | 14 May – 17 May 2026 | 1 | 4 | 4 | Ascension Day |
| Tue 26 May | 23 May – 27 May 2026 | 1 | 5 | 5 | Pentecost Monday, Eid al-Adha (estimated) |
| Thu 28 May, Fri 29 May | 27 May – 31 May 2026 | 2 | 5 | 2.5 | Eid al-Adha (estimated) |
| Mon 24 Aug | 22 Aug – 25 Aug 2026 | 1 | 4 | 4 | Prophet's Birthday (estimated) |
| Wed 26 Aug, Thu 27 Aug, Fri 28 Aug | 25 Aug – 30 Aug 2026 | 3 | 6 | 2 | Prophet's Birthday (estimated) |
| Mon 21 Dec, Tue 22 Dec, Wed 23 Dec, Thu 24 Dec | 19 Dec – 27 Dec 2026 | 4 | 9 | 2.3 | Christmas Day |
| Mon 28 Dec, Tue 29 Dec, Wed 30 Dec, Thu 31 Dec | 25 Dec – 3 Jan 2027 | 4 | 10 | 2.5 | Christmas Day, New Year's Day |
Counted are gaps of up to four working days between a public holiday and the weekend or another public holiday. "Ratio" = days off per day of leave. Weekends follow the local working week.
Dates are generated from the open-source library python-holidays and automatically cross-checked against Nager.Date and the public Google Calendar holiday calendars; every holiday on a working day must be confirmed by a second source. Official announcements take precedence, especially for holidays that depend on the moon or are declared at short notice.
Sources
- Data: python-holidays 0.105 (MIT licence), country code BJ (retrieved Sep 27, 2026)
- Cross-check: Nager.Date public holiday API (MIT licence) (retrieved Sep 27, 2026)
- Cross-check: Google Calendar public holiday calendar (en.bj) (retrieved Sep 27, 2026)
Last updated:
Other years
- Public holidays 2026
- Public holidays 2027