Holidays In Finland Article Index for
Holidays In
Website Links For
Public
 

Information About

Holidays In Finland




In addition to this all Sundays are official holidays but they are not as important as the special holidays. The names of the Sundays follow the liturgical calendar and they can be categorized as Christian holidays. When the standard working week in Finland was reduced to 40 hours by an act of Parliament it also meant that all Saturdays became a sort of ''de facto'' public holidays, though not ''official'' ones. Easter Sunday and Pentecost are Sundays that form part of a ''main'' holiday and they are preceded by a kind of ''special'' Saturdays.


TRADITION

Celebrating major holidays starts early in Finland. Christmas Eve and Midsummer Eve might very well be the single most important holidays during the entire year for Finns. Surprisingly they are not official holidays, they are however ''de facto'' full holidays. They hold this ''de facto'' status partly due to legislation but also due to the fact that most employment contracts provides for these days as full holidays. A number of the less important main holidays are also preceded by ''de facto'' half days, meaning that they only are half working days or school days. These are Epiphany Eve, Maundy Thursday, the day before May Day, the day before Ascension Day, the day before All Saints' Day, and New Year's Eve.

The Finnish calendar also provides for special Flag Days . A day's status as a flag day has no formal link with an eventual status as an official or as a ''de facto'' holiday.

Finland has an official National Day , December 6 . Some minor Observances are also denoted in the Finnish calendar, though they have not been judged worthy of either holiday or flag day status.




 
Date
English Name
Local NameRemarks
January 1 New Year's Day
''Uudenvuodenpäivä'' 
January 6 Epiphany
''Loppiainen'' 
'' Moveable Friday'' Good Friday
''Pitkäperjantai''The Friday before Easter Sunday
'' Moveable Sunday'' Easter Sunday
''Pääsiäispäivä'' 
'' Moveable Monday'' Easter Monday
''2. Pääsiäispäivä''The day after Easter Sunday
May 1 May Day
''Vappu''See Walpurgis Night
'' Moveable Thursday'' Ascension Day ''Helatorstai''40 days after Easter
'' Moveable Sunday'' Pentecost
''Helluntaipäivä''50 days after Easter
Friday between June 19 and June 25 Midsummer Eve
''Juhannusaatto''Non official - ''however a de facto full holiday''
Saturday between June 20 and June 26 Midsummer Day
''Juhannuspäivä'' 
Saturday between October 31 and November 6 All Saints' Day
''Pyhäinpäivä''Moved from November 1
December 6 Independence Day
''Itsenäisyyspäivä'' 
December 24 Christmas Eve
''Jouluaatto''Non official - ''however a de facto full holiday''
December 25 Christmas Day
''Joulupäivä'' 
December 26 Boxing Day ''2. Joulupäivä'' or ''Tapaninpäivä'' 
All Sundays  Official holidays - ''names follow the Liturgical Year ''


''See also: National Day Of Finland , Flag Days In Finland , Namesdays In Finland , Tourism In Finland ''