Public holidays in Saint Helena
8 days in 2026 · 8 in 2027
Back to Saint HelenaNext public holiday
King's Birthday
After it: Christmas Day, Friday 25 December
Friday, 13 November 2026
Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha share 8 public holidays, in 2026 and again in 2027, and each island adds days of its own. On Saint Helena the August Bank Holiday makes 9. Ascension keeps it as well, with Ascension Day, for 10. Tristan da Cunha goes without the August Bank Holiday but keeps Ascension Day, Anniversary Day on 14 August and Ratting Day, for 11.
New Year's Day, Christmas Day and Boxing Day move to a weekday when they fall at the weekend. Boxing Day 2026 is a Saturday, so the holiday is kept on Monday 28 December; in 2027 Christmas falls on a Saturday and Boxing Day on a Sunday, and the days off become Monday 27 and Tuesday 28 December. The King's Birthday is a Friday in November, and in 2026 it is the 13th, the day before Charles III's own birthday.
- Days off in 2026
- 8Nationwide public holidays
- On a weekday
- 8Monday to Friday
- On a weekend
- 0Saturday or Sunday
- Long weekends
- 4and 2 with one day of leave
2026
Public holidays in Saint Helena in 2026
- 1 January: New Year's DayKept on all three islands. When 1 January is a Sunday the day off moves to 2 January, and when it is a Saturday, to 3 January.Thursday
- 3 April: Good FridayThe first of the two Easter days off, on 3 April in 2026 and 26 March in 2027.FridayDate moves
- 6 April: Easter MondayWith Good Friday it gives every island in the territory a four-day Easter weekend.MondayDate moves
- 21 May: Saint Helena DayThe feast of Helena of Constantinople, after whom the island is named. Tradition dates its sighting by the ships of João da Nova to 21 May 1502.Thursday
- 25 May: Whit MondayIn 2026 it comes four days after Saint Helena Day, so one day of leave on Friday 22 May joins the two.MondayDate moves
- 13 November: King's BirthdayCharles III was born on 14 November. The holiday is a Friday in that month: 13 November in 2026.FridayDate moves
- 25 December: Christmas DayWhen 25 December falls at the weekend the day off moves: in 2027 it is a Saturday, and the holiday is kept on Monday 27 December.FridayDate moves
- 28 December: Boxing Day (in lieu)Boxing Day26 December, or a weekday after it when the date falls at the weekend. On Tristan da Cunha the islanders traditionally held their parties on Boxing Day and not on Christmas Day.MondayDate moves
Long weekends
Long weekends in Saint Helena 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
- 4daysFri 3 Apr to Mon 6 AprGood Friday, Easter Monday
- 5daysThu 21 May to Mon 25 MayWith Fri 22 May taken as leave · Saint Helena Day, Whit Monday
- 3daysSat 23 May to Mon 25 MayWhit Monday
- 3daysFri 13 Nov to Sun 15 NovKing's Birthday
- 4daysFri 25 Dec to Mon 28 DecChristmas Day, Boxing Day (in lieu)
2027
Public holidays in Saint Helena in 2027
- 1 January: New Year's DayFriday
- 26 March: Good FridayFridayDate moves
- 29 March: Easter MondayMondayDate moves
- 17 May: Whit MondayMondayDate moves
- 21 May: Saint Helena DayFriday
- 19 November: King's BirthdayFridayDate moves
- 27 December: Christmas DayMondayDate moves
- 28 December: Boxing DayTuesdayDate moves
Regional
Holidays kept in parts of Saint Helena
Public holidays in 2026 that are days off only in the regions listed, by their ISO 3166-2 codes.
- 14 May: Ascension DaySH-AC · SH-TAAscension Island and Tristan da Cunha only. Afonso de Albuquerque is said to have named Ascension on this feast in 1503.ThursdayDate moves
- 14 August: Anniversary DaySH-TATristan da Cunha only. The United Kingdom annexed the islands on 14 August 1816.Friday
- 31 August: August Bank HolidaySH-HL · SH-ACThe last Monday in August, kept on Saint Helena and Ascension but not on Tristan da Cunha.MondayDate moves
Tristan da Cunha also stops government and factory work for three weeks, starting shortly before Christmas. Break-Up Day, the first day of the break, is usually marked with parties.
Easter Sunday and Whit Sunday are marked across a largely Christian territory but carry no day off of their own. Good Friday, Easter Monday, Ascension Day and Whit Monday are counted from them and move every year.
The St Helena National Trust holds a Culture Month in May. The government's tourism plan for 2026 to 2031 named local food as the theme of Saint Helena Day 2026.
Common questions
Questions about public holidays in Saint Helena
How many public holidays does Saint Helena have in 2026?
Saint Helena island has 9 days off in 2026: the 8 it shares with Ascension and Tristan da Cunha, and the August Bank Holiday on Monday 31 August. All 9 fall on weekdays. The shared 8 are New Year's Day, Good Friday, Easter Monday, Saint Helena Day, Whit Monday, the King's Birthday, Christmas Day and Boxing Day, which is kept on Monday 28 December in 2026.
Why is Saint Helena Day on 21 May?
By long tradition the island was sighted on 21 May 1502 by the ships of João da Nova, who named it after Helena of Constantinople. The date has been questioned. A 2015 paper notes that 21 May is Helena's feast in the Eastern Orthodox and most Protestant churches, while the Roman Catholic feast falls in August, and that the day and month first appear in 1596, in Jan Huyghen van Linschoten. 3 May, the Catholic feast of the finding of the True Cross by Helena, has been put forward as more credible.
When is the King's Birthday holiday on Saint Helena in 2026?
Friday 13 November, the eve of Charles III's birthday on the 14th, by the calendar of the St Helena public service. The third Friday of November, the rule in Wikipedia's list of the territory's holidays, would have put it on the 20th. All three islands keep it.
What is Ratting Day on Tristan da Cunha?
Tristan's own holiday, and the only one in the territory without a fixed date or a rule to find it. The Chief Islander declares the day each year, somewhere in May or June, and it can be moved at short notice depending on the weather. Saint Helena and Ascension do not keep it.
Is Ascension Day a public holiday on Saint Helena?
No. Ascension Day is kept on Ascension Island and on Tristan da Cunha, and Saint Helena island works as usual. Ascension takes its name from the feast: Afonso de Albuquerque is said to have named the island on Ascension Day in 1503. It falls on the Thursday 39 days after Easter Sunday, Thursday 14 May in 2026 and Thursday 6 May in 2027.
Is 28 December 2026 a day off on Saint Helena?
Yes. Boxing Day falls on Saturday 26 December 2026, so Monday 28 December is the public holiday in its place, and Christmas Day on Friday 25 December starts four days off that run to the Monday. In 2027 the weekend takes both days: Christmas Day is a Saturday and Boxing Day a Sunday, so the days off are Monday 27 and Tuesday 28 December.
What are the long weekends on Saint Helena in 2026?
Four come without leave: Easter from Friday 3 to Monday 6 April, the Whit weekend from Saturday 23 to Monday 25 May, the King's Birthday from Friday 13 November and Christmas from Friday 25 to Monday 28 December. Leave on Friday 22 May joins Saint Helena Day, a Thursday, to the Whit weekend for five days in a row, and leave on Friday 2 January turns New Year into four. On Saint Helena and Ascension the August Bank Holiday adds one more, from Saturday 29 to Monday 31 August.
Why does Tristan da Cunha keep Anniversary Day?
It marks 14 August 1816, when the United Kingdom annexed the islands by sending a garrison and made them a dependency of the Cape Colony. The aim was to stop Tristan serving as a base for any attempt to free Napoleon from his imprisonment on Saint Helena. The holiday belongs to Tristan alone, and in 2027 it falls on a Saturday.
Dates from Nager.Date, read 2026-10-16. The page counts from Sunday, 25 October 2026, the day it was built.