Public holidays in Bermuda
10 days in 2026 · 10 in 2027
Back to BermudaNext public holiday
Remembrance Day
After it: Christmas Day, Friday 25 December
Wednesday, 11 November 2026
Bermuda keeps ten public holidays a year under the Public Holidays Act 1947, and in 2026 every one of them falls on a weekday. Four belong to the territory alone: Bermuda Day in May, National Heroes Day in June, and the pair at the end of July or start of August, Emancipation Day and Mary Prince Day, on which the Cup Match cricket game between St George's and Somerset is played. Easter gives only Good Friday; there is no Easter Monday holiday.
A holiday that falls on a weekend is kept on the following weekday, as the Act's schedule provides. Boxing Day, Saturday 26 December 2026, is kept on Monday 28 December. In 2027 Christmas Day falls on a Saturday and Boxing Day on a Sunday, and the government's list keeps them on Monday 27 and Tuesday 28 December.
- Days off in 2026
- 10Nationwide public holidays
- On a weekday
- 10Monday to Friday
- On a weekend
- 0Saturday or Sunday
- Long weekends
- 6and 1 with one day of leave
2026
Public holidays in Bermuda in 2026
- 1 January: New Year's DayThe first day of the year, and one of the days the Gombey troupes traditionally dance.Thursday
- 3 April: Good FridayThe only Easter day on Bermuda's list: Easter Monday is not a public holiday.FridayDate moves
- 22 May: Bermuda DayA parade in Hamilton, held since 1979, and a road race into the city. Long kept on 24 May, it was moved by law in 2017 and again in 2020; it falls on Friday 22 May in 2026 and Friday 28 May in 2027. Traditionally the first day of the year for swimming in the sea and for Bermuda shorts at work.FridayDate moves
- 15 June: National Heroes DayMoved from October to June in 2009, when it replaced the Queen's Official Holiday. A Monday in both years on file.MondayDate moves
- 30 July: Emancipation DayMarks the end of slavery in 1834 and is the first day of Cup Match, the Thursday before the first Monday in August. The Cup Match holiday was created by the Act in 1947.ThursdayDate moves
- 31 July: Mary Prince DayThe second day of Cup Match, named in 2020 after Mary Prince, the Bermudian whose slave narrative was published in 1831. It replaced Somers Day, which commemorated the wreck of the Sea Venture.FridayDate moves
- 7 September: Labour DayThe first Monday in September in both years on file.MondayDate moves
- 11 November: Remembrance DayThe war dead, remembered at the Cenotaph in front of the Cabinet Building in Hamilton.Wednesday
- 25 December: Christmas DayKept on Friday 25 December 2026 and on Monday 27 December 2027, when the day itself falls on a Saturday.FridayDate moves
- 28 December: St. Stephen's DayBoxing DayThe main day of the Gombeys, whose troupes march all day around the island with crowds following. Kept on Monday 28 December in 2026 and on Tuesday 28 December in 2027.Monday
Long weekends
Long weekends in Bermuda in 2026
Runs of three days or more off, with weekends counted, and the working days that join a holiday to a weekend when taken as leave.
- 4daysThu 1 Jan to Sun 4 JanWith Fri 2 Jan taken as leave · New Year's Day
- 3daysFri 3 Apr to Sun 5 AprGood Friday
- 3daysFri 22 May to Sun 24 MayBermuda Day
- 3daysSat 13 Jun to Mon 15 JunNational Heroes Day
- 4daysThu 30 Jul to Sun 2 AugEmancipation Day, Mary Prince Day
- 3daysSat 5 Sept to Mon 7 SeptLabour Day
- 4daysFri 25 Dec to Mon 28 DecChristmas Day, St. Stephen's Day
2027
Public holidays in Bermuda in 2027
- 1 January: New Year's DayFriday
- 26 March: Good FridayFridayDate moves
- 28 May: Bermuda DayFridayDate moves
- 21 June: National Heroes DayMondayDate moves
- 29 July: Emancipation DayThursdayDate moves
- 30 July: Mary Prince DayFridayDate moves
- 6 September: Labour DayMondayDate moves
- 11 November: Remembrance DayThursday
- 27 December: Christmas DayMondayDate moves
- 28 December: St. Stephen's DayBoxing DayTuesday
The Cup Match holiday was fought over in the House of Assembly from November 1946. Cricket fans had been calling in sick and some lost their jobs for attending the match, and the bill that finally passed on 27 May 1947 gave the Thursday to Cup Match and the Friday to Somers Day. The National Museum of Bermuda notes that the first Cup Match, in 1902, was played in June, and that the link to emancipation was drawn later.
Holidays were once a near-total shutdown. Shops shut. Selling goods, offering them for sale or even letting a customer into a shop was an offence, with licensed exceptions for hotel restaurants and pharmacies. An amendment in March 2005 allowed shops to open, provided staff were given at least seven days' written notice and could refuse without penalty.
Special holidays are added from time to time: 4 November 2019 marked 170 years since the first Portuguese immigrants arrived, and 8 May 2023 marked the King's coronation. Both were single occasions.
Common questions
Questions about public holidays in Bermuda
How many public holidays does Bermuda have?
Ten. In 2026 they are New Year's Day, Good Friday, Bermuda Day, National Heroes Day, Emancipation Day, Mary Prince Day, Labour Day, Remembrance Day, Christmas Day and Boxing Day, all falling on weekdays once Boxing Day is moved from Saturday 26 December to Monday 28 December.
When is Cup Match in 2026?
On Thursday 30 July and Friday 31 July, the public holidays of Emancipation Day and Mary Prince Day. The match between the St George's and Somerset cricket clubs is played on the Thursday and Friday before the first Monday in August, and in 2027 it falls on Thursday 29 July and Friday 30 July.
What happens when a Bermuda holiday falls on a weekend?
It is kept on the next weekday under the schedule to the Public Holidays Act 1947. In 2026 Boxing Day falls on Saturday 26 December and is kept on Monday 28 December. In 2027 Christmas falls on a Saturday and Boxing Day on a Sunday, so the government lists Monday 27 and Tuesday 28 December instead.
Why was Somers Day renamed Mary Prince Day?
Legislation in 2020 replaced Somers Day, which had commemorated Sir George Somers and the wreck of the Sea Venture in 1609, with Mary Prince Day, honouring the Bermudian woman whose account of slavery, published in 1831, fed the abolition campaign. The day remains the second day of the Cup Match holiday.
Is Easter Monday a holiday in Bermuda?
No. Good Friday is the only Easter day on the government's list, so the Easter weekend gives one day off rather than two. In 2026 Good Friday fell on 3 April and in 2027 it falls on 26 March. The other moving holidays are tied to weekdays, mostly a Monday or a Friday, which is how every holiday in 2026 avoided the weekend once Boxing Day was moved.
What is Bermuda Day?
A public holiday in late May with a parade in Hamilton, first held in 1979, and a road race into the city. Families stake out stretches of pavement the night before. It is traditionally the first day of the year to swim in the sea and to wear Bermuda shorts to work. It falls on Friday 22 May in 2026.
Do shops close on Bermuda's public holidays?
Not necessarily any more. Until 2005 the Public Holidays Act made selling goods on a holiday an offence, apart from licensed hotel restaurants and pharmacies. An amendment in March 2005 allowed shops to open, with staff given at least seven days' written notice and the right to refuse.
Dates from Nager.Date, read 2026-10-01. The page counts from Thursday, 1 October 2026, the day it was built.