Public holidays in Sri Lanka 2026

There are 26 public holidays in 2026. 17 of them fall on a working day.

Download calendar file (.ics) For Outlook, Google Calendar and Apple Calendar; all-day events.

All 26 public holidays in Sri Lanka 2026

DateWeekdayHolidayLocal nameCountdown
SaturdayDuruthu Full Moon Poya Dayදුරුතු පුර පසළොස්වක පෝය දිනය
ThursdayTamil Thai Pongal Dayදෙමළ තෛපොංැලල් දිනය
SundayNawam Full Moon Poya Dayනවම් පුර පසළොස්වක පෝය දිනය
WednesdayIndependence Dayනිදහස් සමරු දිනය
SundayMaha Sivarathri Dayමහ සිවරාත්රි දිනය
MondayMedin Full Moon Poya Dayමැදින් පුර පසළොස්වක පෝය දිනය
SaturdayEid al-Fitrඊදුල් ෆීතර්
WednesdayBak Full Moon Poya Dayබක් පුර පසළොස්වක පෝය දිනය
FridayGood Fridayමහ සිකුරාදා දිනය
MondayDay Before Sinhala and Tamil New Yearසිංහල හා දෙමළ අලුත් අවුරුදු දිනට පෙර දිනය
TuesdaySinhala and Tamil New Yearසිංහල හා දෙමළ අලුත් අවුරුදු දිනය
FridayInternational Workers' Dayලොක කම්කරු දිනය
FridayVesak Full Moon Poya Dayවෙසක් පුර පසළොස්වක පෝය දිනය
SaturdayDay Following Vesak Full Moon Poya Dayවෙසක් පුර පසළොස්වක පෝය දිනට පසු දිනය
ThursdayEid al-Adhaඊදුල් අල්හා
SaturdayAdhi Poson Full Moon Poya Dayඅධි පොසොන් පුර පසළොස්වක පෝය දිනය
MondayPoson Full Moon Poya Dayපොසොන් පුර පසළොස්වක පෝය දිනය
WednesdayEsala Full Moon Poya Dayඇසල පුර පසළොස්වක පෝය දිනය
WednesdayProphet's Birthdayනබි නායකතුමාගේ උපන් දිනය
ThursdayNikini Full Moon Poya Dayනිකිණි පුර පසළොස්වක පෝය දිනය
SaturdayBinara Full Moon Poya Dayබිනර පුර පසළොස්වක පෝය දිනය
SundayVap Full Moon Poya Dayවප් පුර පසළොස්වක පෝය දිනය
SundayDiwaliදීපවාලි උත්සව දිනය
TuesdayIl Full Moon Poya Dayඉල් පුර පසළොස්වක පෝය දිනය
WednesdayUnduvap Full Moon Poya Dayඋඳුවප් පුර පසළොස්වක පෝය දිනය
FridayChristmas Dayනත්තල් උත්සව දිනය

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

20 times a public holiday lies close to a weekend – with a little leave it becomes a long weekend:

Take leaveOffDays of leaveDays offRatioOccasion
Mon 12 Jan, Tue 13 Jan, Wed 14 Jan10 Jan – 15 Jan 2026362Tamil Thai Pongal Day
Fri 16 Jan15 Jan – 18 Jan 2026144Tamil Thai Pongal Day
Mon 2 Feb, Tue 3 Feb31 Jan – 4 Feb 2026252.5Nawam Full Moon Poya Day, Independence Day
Thu 5 Feb, Fri 6 Feb4 Feb – 8 Feb 2026252.5Independence Day
Tue 3 Mar, Wed 4 Mar, Thu 5 Mar, Fri 6 Mar28 Feb – 8 Mar 2026492.3Medin Full Moon Poya Day
Mon 30 Mar, Tue 31 Mar28 Mar – 1 Apr 2026252.5Bak Full Moon Poya Day
Thu 2 Apr1 Apr – 5 Apr 2026155Bak Full Moon Poya Day, Good Friday
Wed 15 Apr, Thu 16 Apr, Fri 17 Apr11 Apr – 19 Apr 2026393Day Before Sinhala and Tamil New Year, Sinhala and Tamil New Year
Mon 27 Apr, Tue 28 Apr, Wed 29 Apr, Thu 30 Apr25 Apr – 3 May 2026492.3International Workers' Day, Day Following Vesak Full Moon Poya Day
Mon 25 May, Tue 26 May, Wed 27 May23 May – 28 May 2026362Eid al-Adha
Fri 29 May28 May – 31 May 2026144Eid al-Adha, Adhi Poson Full Moon Poya Day
Tue 30 Jun, Wed 1 Jul, Thu 2 Jul, Fri 3 Jul27 Jun – 5 Jul 2026492.3Poson Full Moon Poya Day
Mon 27 Jul, Tue 28 Jul25 Jul – 29 Jul 2026252.5Esala Full Moon Poya Day
Thu 30 Jul, Fri 31 Jul29 Jul – 2 Aug 2026252.5Esala Full Moon Poya Day
Mon 24 Aug, Tue 25 Aug22 Aug – 27 Aug 2026263Prophet's Birthday, Nikini Full Moon Poya Day
Fri 28 Aug26 Aug – 30 Aug 2026155Prophet's Birthday, Nikini Full Moon Poya Day
Mon 23 Nov21 Nov – 24 Nov 2026144Il Full Moon Poya Day
Wed 25 Nov, Thu 26 Nov, Fri 27 Nov24 Nov – 29 Nov 2026362Il Full Moon Poya Day
Mon 21 Dec, Tue 22 Dec19 Dec – 23 Dec 2026252.5Unduvap Full Moon Poya Day
Thu 24 Dec23 Dec – 27 Dec 2026155Unduvap Full Moon Poya Day, Christmas 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.

Frequently asked questions

How many public holidays does Sri Lanka have in 2026?

26 public holidays. 9 of them fall on a weekend in 2026.

What is the next public holiday in Sri Lanka?

As of 9 Nov 2026, the next holiday is Il Full Moon Poya Day on Tuesday, 24 Nov 2026.

Which public holiday gives the best long weekend in 2026?

Bak Full Moon Poya Day, Good Friday: take 1 day of leave (2 Apr) and you get 5 days off in a row, 1 Apr – 5 Apr 2026.

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