Public holidays in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Ten days in 2026 are off in every part of the country: 1 and 2 January, both Christmas Days, the Monday of each Easter, 1 and 2 May and the first day of each Bajram. Everything else depends on the entity. The Federation adds Independence Day and Statehood Day, Republika Srpska adds Victory Day, the Dayton anniversary and two January days, and Brčko District adds the day of its establishment.

No. Independence Day on 1 March is a holiday of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and neither Republika Srpska nor Brčko District lists it. Offices and shops there work that day, while those in the Federation close. In 2026 the date fell on a Sunday and the Federation took Monday 2 March off instead. Statehood Day on 25 November splits the country the same way.

Catholics keep it on 25 December and Serbian Orthodox believers on 7 January. The Federation, Republika Srpska and Brčko District all make both Christmas Days non-working, so the whole country stops twice. The two entities also give Christmas Eve, 24 December and 6 January, while Brčko District works on both. In 2026 the Catholic pair falls on Thursday 24 and Friday 25 December.

Sunday 2 May 2027, with Good Friday on 30 April and Easter Monday on 3 May. It lands on Labour Day, whose second day moves off the Sunday to Monday 3 May, so in both entities the Friday to Monday run of four days holds the two feasts at once. Brčko District has the Monday off but works on Good Friday. In 2026 Orthodox Easter fell on 12 April.

The day of the General Framework Agreement for Peace, the Dayton agreement of 1995 which constituted the present state. It is a public holiday only in Republika Srpska. It falls on Saturday 21 November in 2026 and on a Sunday in 2027, and as a one-day holiday it is not moved to the Monday.

The Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina found the holiday unconstitutional, and the decision, published in the state's gazette in 2016, removed its date from the entity's Law on Holidays. Republika Srpska still keeps 9 January, now by a decision of its government rather than under the law. In 2026 it fell on a Friday, and in 2027 it falls on a Saturday.

Only in Republika Srpska, where Victory Day over Fascism is one of five holidays in the entity's law. The Federation marks the date as a working day, and Brčko District does not list it. In 2026 it fell on a Saturday and in 2027 it falls on a Sunday, so in neither year does it take a weekday.

Yes. The Federation, Republika Srpska and Brčko District all make the first day of Ramazanski bajram and of Kurban-bajram non-working, and the two entities add the second day: 20 and 21 March and 27 and 28 May in 2026. Republika Srpska's law frames every religious feast as paid absence for believers of that faith, and in the Federation an employer must also grant up to four working days a year for religious or traditional needs, two of them paid.

Its list has eleven non-working days in 2026: 1 and 2 January, one day for each Christmas, the Monday of each Easter, 1 and 2 May, the first day of each Bajram and 9 March for the establishment of the district, moved from Sunday 8 March. It keeps none of the entity holidays, so Independence Day, Statehood Day, Victory Day and 21 November are working days there.