Public holidays in Hungary
14 days in 2026 · 11 in 2027
Back to HungaryNext public holiday
1956 Revolution Memorial Day
Nemzeti ünnep
After it: All Saints Day, Sunday 1 November
Friday, 23 October 2026
The Hungarian Labour Code names 11 days off (munkaszüneti napok), and applies the same rules for rotas and holiday pay to Easter Sunday and Whit Sunday, which are always Sundays and give no extra day off. Of the 11, eight fall on a weekday in 2026 and seven in 2027. Hungary also swaps days: a ministerial decree issued for each year can turn the working day between a holiday and a weekend into a rest day, and that day is worked instead on a Saturday of the same month.
Three of the days are national holidays under Article J of the Fundamental Law: 15 March for the revolution of 1848, 20 August for the founding of the state and its first king, Saint Stephen, and 23 October for the revolution of 1956. Of the three, 20 August is also the official state holiday.
Christmas Eve is not a day off in law. A bill put before parliament on 23 September 2026 would make it one; until that passes, 24 December is a rest day only in a year when the decree says so, as the 2026 decree does.
- Days off in 2026
- 14Not counting Easter Sunday and Pentecost, always a Sunday
- On a weekday
- 11Monday to Friday
- On a weekend
- 3Saturday or Sunday
- Long weekends
- 7three days off or more
2026
Public holidays in Hungary in 2026
- 1 January: New Year's DayÚjévNew Year's Day. In 2026 it fell on a Thursday, and the decree gave Friday 2 January off in return for work on Saturday 10 January.Thursday
- 2 January: Rest dayPihenőnapA rest day, a weekday the annual decree takes off in exchange for a working Saturday. In 2026 there are three: Friday 2 January, Friday 21 August and Thursday 24 December.FridayDate moves
- 15 March: 1848 Revolution Memorial DayNemzeti ünnepThe name covers two days. 15 March marks the revolution and war of independence of 1848, when many wear a cockade in red, white and green; 23 October marks the revolution of 1956 and the proclamation of the Third Republic in 1989.Sunday
- 3 April: Good FridayNagypéntekGood Friday has been a day off only since 2017. With Easter Monday it makes Easter a four-day break every year.FridayDate moves
- 6 April: Easter MondayHúsvéthétfőEaster Monday. Men visit women and sprinkle them with perfume, or water in the countryside, after asking leave in a short verse, and are given eggs in return.MondayDate moves
- 1 May: Labour dayA munka ünnepeLabour Day, which coincides with majális, the May Day outings in public parks. Since 2004 it has also marked Hungary's entry into the European Union.Friday
- 25 May: Whit MondayPünkösdhétfőWhit Monday, which turns Pentecost into a three-day weekend every year.MondayDate moves
- 20 August: State Foundation DayAz államalapítás ünnepeSaint Stephen, the first king, canonised on 20 August 1083, and the founding of the state; also known as the day of the new bread. It closes with half an hour of fireworks over the Danube in Budapest.Thursday
- 21 August: Rest dayPihenőnapA rest day, a weekday the annual decree takes off in exchange for a working Saturday. In 2026 there are three: Friday 2 January, Friday 21 August and Thursday 24 December.FridayDate moves
- 23 October: 1956 Revolution Memorial DayNemzeti ünnepThe name covers two days. 15 March marks the revolution and war of independence of 1848, when many wear a cockade in red, white and green; 23 October marks the revolution of 1956 and the proclamation of the Third Republic in 1989.Friday
- 1 November: All Saints DayMindenszentekAll Saints' Day, when families and friends decorate graves.Sunday
- 24 December: Rest dayPihenőnapA rest day, a weekday the annual decree takes off in exchange for a working Saturday. In 2026 there are three: Friday 2 January, Friday 21 August and Thursday 24 December.ThursdayDate moves
- 25 December: Christmas DayKarácsonyChristmas Day. Public transport stops at about 4 pm on the evening before, when most families gather at the tree and open presents.Friday
- 26 December: St. Stephen's DayKarácsony másnapjaThe second day of Christmas, usually spent visiting relatives. In 2027 both Christmas days fall on the weekend.Saturday
Long weekends
Long weekends in Hungary 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 JanNew Year's Day, Rest day
- 4daysFri 3 Apr to Mon 6 AprGood Friday, Easter Monday
- 3daysFri 1 May to Sun 3 MayLabour day
- 3daysSat 23 May to Mon 25 MayWhit Monday
- 4daysThu 20 Aug to Sun 23 AugState Foundation Day, Rest day
- 3daysFri 23 Oct to Sun 25 Oct1956 Revolution Memorial Day
- 4daysThu 24 Dec to Sun 27 DecRest day, Christmas Day, St. Stephen's Day
2027
Public holidays in Hungary in 2027
- 1 January: New Year's DayÚjévFriday
- 15 March: 1848 Revolution Memorial DayNemzeti ünnepMonday
- 26 March: Good FridayNagypéntekFridayDate moves
- 29 March: Easter MondayHúsvéthétfőMondayDate moves
- 1 May: Labour dayA munka ünnepeSaturday
- 17 May: Whit MondayPünkösdhétfőMondayDate moves
- 20 August: State Foundation DayAz államalapítás ünnepeFriday
- 23 October: 1956 Revolution Memorial DayNemzeti ünnepSaturday
- 1 November: All Saints DayMindenszentekMonday
- 25 December: Christmas DayKarácsonySaturday
- 26 December: St. Stephen's DayKarácsony másnapjaSunday
The swaps rest on section 102 of the Labour Code, which lets the minister for employment policy rearrange working days around the holidays by decree, published by 31 October of the year before. Two limits apply: a Sunday can never become a working day, and the swap has to stay within one calendar month. The decree binds every employer, for staff on the general working pattern.
For 2026, decree 10/2025 (IV. 30.) NGM made three Saturdays working days, 10 January, 8 August and 12 December, in return for rest on 2 January, 21 August and 24 December. Those three rest days are not holidays in law, and the 2026 calendar lists each of them as Pihenőnap. With the decree, 1 to 4 January, 20 to 23 August and 24 to 27 December are four days off each.
No decree for 2027 had been published by late September 2026. As no holiday that year falls on a Tuesday or a Thursday, a press reading of the calendar expected no swap, except perhaps one to give Friday 24 December off.
A holiday that falls on a weekend is not moved to a weekday. Remembrance days such as 6 October, for the 13 martyrs of Arad executed in 1849, and 4 June, National Unity Day, for the Treaty of Trianon, are working days.
Common questions
Questions about public holidays in Hungary
How many public holidays does Hungary have in 2026?
Eleven, the days off named in the Labour Code; Easter Sunday and Whit Sunday are treated as holidays for pay but always fall on a Sunday. Three of the 11 land on a weekend in 2026, 15 March, 1 November and 26 December, which leaves eight weekdays off. The 2026 decree adds three rest days that are not holidays, 2 January, 21 August and 24 December, each paid for with a working Saturday.
What is a working Saturday in Hungary?
A Saturday that a ministerial decree turns into a normal working day, known as a ledolgozós szombat. In exchange a weekday wedged between a holiday and a weekend becomes a rest day, so the holiday grows into a long weekend. In 2026 Saturday 8 August was worked so that Friday 21 August, the day after State Foundation Day, could be taken off.
Is 24 December a day off in Hungary?
Not by law. In 2026 it is a rest day because the annual decree swapped it for Saturday 12 December. A bill submitted to parliament on 23 September 2026 would add Christmas Eve to the days off, and a union of shop workers began collecting signatures in summer 2026 for a referendum on the same question. The National Election Office must establish by 9 November 2026 whether enough were gathered. In 2027 it falls on a Friday.
What are the national holidays of Hungary?
Article J of the Fundamental Law names three: 15 March, for the revolution and war of independence of 1848, 20 August, for the founding of the state and King Saint Stephen, and 23 October, for the revolution of 1956. It singles out 20 August as the official state holiday. All three are days off; the other eight days off in the Labour Code are church feasts, New Year and Labour Day.
When is Easter in Hungary in 2027?
Good Friday is 26 March 2027, Easter Sunday 28 March and Easter Monday 29 March, so Easter runs as four days off from Friday to Monday. Whit Sunday follows on 16 May and Whit Monday on 17 May. In 2026 Easter fell from 3 to 6 April.
What are the long weekends in Hungary in 2027?
Six, counting only the days in the Labour Code: 1 to 3 January, 13 to 15 March, Easter from 26 to 29 March, Pentecost from 15 to 17 May, 20 to 22 August and 30 October to 1 November. Four days off give nothing extra, because 1 May and 23 October fall on Saturdays and Christmas on a Saturday and Sunday. A decree could still add a rest day around Friday 24 December.
Since when is Good Friday a public holiday in Hungary?
Since 2017. Together with Easter Monday it guarantees a four-day Easter break every year, whatever the date: in 2026 from Friday 3 April to Monday 6 April, and in 2027 from Friday 26 March to Monday 29 March. The decision that made it a day off was reported on 7 March 2017.
Is work on a public holiday in Hungary paid extra?
Yes. Under the Labour Code an employee who works on a day off receives a wage supplement of 100%, and the same supplement applies to work on Easter Sunday, Whit Sunday or a holiday falling on a Sunday. Regular hours may be scheduled on a day off only in the cases the code lists, among them work that meets a need rooted in local custom around the holiday, and work to prevent accidents or serious damage.
Which holidays did Hungary drop after 1989?
The communist calendar kept 4 April as Liberation Day, for the Red Army driving Nazi German forces out of Hungary in the Second World War, and 21 March for the Hungarian Soviet Republic of 1919; both ended in 1989. The anniversary of the October Revolution on 7 November went too. 20 August, recast under the People's Republic as the founding of the socialist state, returned to Saint Stephen.
Dates from Nager.Date, read 2026-09-26. The page counts from Monday, 28 September 2026, the day it was built.