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Public Holidays in Norway: Dates and How They Are Calculated

Norway has twelve public holidays a year apart from Sundays. Some are on the same date every year and others move with Easter. This guide lists all of them with the dates for the next three years and explains the system.

The official days off

In Norway the public holidays are New Year's Day, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Easter Sunday, Easter Monday, May 1 (Labour Day), May 17 (Constitution Day), Ascension Day, Whit Sunday, Whit Monday, Christmas Day and Boxing Day, which is called the second day of Christmas. Sundays count as rest days as well.

On public holidays most shops are closed by law, with a few exceptions such as small stores and shops at fuel stations, airports and train stations.

Fixed holidays

These are on the same date every year, but the weekday changes. Here are the dates for the next three years:

May 17 marks the signing of the Norwegian constitution at Eidsvoll in 1814. May 1 became a public holiday by law in 1947.

Holidays that move with Easter

Easter Sunday decides the dates of five of the holidays. The rule for the date itself is explained in the guide on how Easter is calculated. Here are the dates, using the offsets from Easter Sunday:

Days off that are not public holidays

Christmas Eve, December 24, is not an official public holiday, but in practice most workplaces are closed or close early. The same goes for New Year's Eve in many places. Whether an employee has the day off depends on the wage agreement or the employer.

Several other days are marked without being days off, for example Mother's Day, Father's Day, the first day of Advent and Sami National Day on February 6.

Holidays on weekends

Some holidays are on a Sunday or a Saturday in some years. For example, May 17 fell on a Sunday in 2020, and Christmas Day will be on a Saturday in 2027. In Norway you do not get a day off in lieu, as is common in other countries, so a holiday on a weekend is simply lost.

For people planning vacations, years where holidays fall on weekdays are the best, because a Thursday holiday makes it easy to take a long weekend with just one vacation day.

Working days and holidays

A normal week has five working days, from Monday to Friday. Each public holiday that falls on a weekday removes one working day. In a typical Norwegian year about nine of the holidays fall on a weekday, which leaves roughly 252 working days before vacation.

To count working days between two dates, use the working-days tool on this site, and subtract any public holidays from the list above that fall in the period.

Holidays in other countries

Public holidays differ widely. The United Kingdom has bank holidays, the United States has federal holidays such as Thanksgiving and Independence Day, and many countries have holidays that follow other calendars, such as Eid or Diwali, which move each year with the lunar calendar.

If you work internationally, it is wise to check the holiday calendar of the other country before you plan a deadline.

Tool: Count working days between two dates

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