Federal holidays 2027:
the dates people get wrong.
Three of the eleven US federal holidays in 2027 fall on a weekend, so they are observed on a different day — and the shift is not always later. Christmas 2027 lands on a Saturday, which puts the federal holiday on Friday, December 24. Independence Day falls on a Sunday, so it is observed Monday, July 5. Juneteenth falls on a Saturday, so it is observed Friday, June 18.
Sources checked October 21, 2026 — the U.S. Office of Personnel Management 2027 schedule, and GOV.UK’s bank-holiday tables for England and Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland. The countdown uses your device clock and your local calendar dates; the .ics download contains the observed dates, because that is when the offices are shut.
Save the dates that actually close: US federal offices close January 1, January 18, February 15, May 31, June 18, July 5, September 6, October 11, November 11, November 25 and December 24. In the UK, banks close January 1, March 26, March 29, May 3, May 31, August 30, December 27 and December 28 — and December 24 is an ordinary working day in the UK, unlike the US.
US federal holidays 2027
| Holiday | Date | Observed |
|---|---|---|
| New Year’s Day | Friday, January 1 | Same day |
| Birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr. | Monday, January 18 | Same day |
| Washington’s Birthday | Monday, February 15 | Same day |
| Memorial Day | Monday, May 31 | Same day |
| Juneteenth National Independence Day | Saturday, June 19 | Friday, June 18 |
| Independence Day | Sunday, July 4 | Monday, July 5 |
| Labor Day | Monday, September 6 | Same day |
| Columbus Day | Monday, October 11 | Same day |
| Veterans Day | Thursday, November 11 | Same day |
| Thanksgiving Day | Thursday, November 25 | Same day |
| Christmas Day | Saturday, December 25 | Friday, December 24 |
OPM’s 2027 schedule is the source for the US table. Two details in it trip people up: the holiday is named Washington’s Birthday in the law, even though it is widely called Presidents’ Day, and the 2027 schedule shifts three holidays because of the weekend rule below.
Why three holidays move, and which way they move
Federal offices follow a standard rule. When a holiday falls on a Saturday, the preceding Friday is treated as the holiday. When it falls on a Sunday, the following Monday is. That is the whole mechanism, and it explains all three shifts:
- Juneteenth is Saturday, June 19 → observed Friday, June 18. The day before.
- Independence Day is Sunday, July 4 → observed Monday, July 5. The day after.
- Christmas Day is Saturday, December 25 → observed Friday, December 24. The day before, and the day most people miss.
The rule applies to federal employees for pay and leave purposes. Private employers, banks and schools are not bound by it — which is why the December 24 shift produces a strange local effect: government offices and many banks are shut on Christmas Eve, while most private workplaces are open and many schools are in session.
UK bank holidays 2027
The UK list is longer in some regions and shorter in others, so “bank holiday” is not one national calendar. England and Wales have eight, Scotland has nine, Northern Ireland has ten.
| Bank holiday | Date |
|---|---|
| New Year’s Day | Friday, January 1 |
| Good Friday | Friday, March 26 |
| Easter Monday | Monday, March 29 |
| Early May bank holiday | Monday, May 3 |
| Spring bank holiday | Monday, May 31 |
| Summer bank holiday | Monday, August 30 |
| Christmas Day (substitute day) | Monday, December 27 |
| Boxing Day (substitute day) | Tuesday, December 28 |
| Bank holiday | Scotland | Northern Ireland |
|---|---|---|
| New Year’s Day | Friday, January 1 | Friday, January 1 |
| 2nd January (substitute day) | Monday, January 4 | — |
| St Patrick’s Day | — | Wednesday, March 17 |
| Good Friday | Friday, March 26 | Friday, March 26 |
| Easter Monday | — | Monday, March 29 |
| Early May bank holiday | Monday, May 3 | Monday, May 3 |
| Spring bank holiday | Monday, May 31 | Monday, May 31 |
| Battle of the Boyne (Orangemen’s Day) | — | Monday, July 12 |
| Summer bank holiday | Monday, August 2 | Monday, August 30 |
| St Andrew’s Day | Tuesday, November 30 | — |
| Christmas Day (substitute day) | Monday, December 27 | Monday, December 27 |
| Boxing Day (substitute day) | Tuesday, December 28 | Tuesday, December 28 |
GOV.UK’s bank-holiday page lists each region separately, and the Scottish and Northern Irish tables differ from the England and Wales one in more than one place. Note that Easter Sunday 2027 is March 28, which fixes Good Friday at March 26 and Easter Monday at March 29.
Scotland’s summer bank holiday falls on August 2 and Northern Ireland’s on August 30. If you are booking a venue, a courier, or a bank appointment in the UK, that difference is worth checking rather than assuming one August date.
Countdown to the next holiday
US federal holidays 2027: New Year’s Day — Friday, January 1.
| Holiday | Date | Observed |
|---|
The countdown counts days from your device clock to the observed date. It does not know your employer’s schedule or your region’s extra days, and it does not update while the page is closed.
What actually closes
A federal holiday is a closure rule for federal offices, not for the country. In the US, the practical closures are federal agencies, post offices, most banks, and — in many districts — schools. Private businesses stay open unless they choose otherwise; some retail chains and restaurants close on the big ones and stay open on Columbus Day or Veterans Day.
In the UK, a bank holiday closes the banks, government offices and most schools. Employers do not have to give you the day off, and many businesses trade through it. Northern Ireland also has some extra closures that are not in the table above, particularly around St Patrick’s Day.
The three-day weekends in 2027
Two stretches are worth planning around. The first is Thursday, December 23 to Tuesday, December 28: federal offices are closed Friday December 24 and Monday December 27, while UK banks are closed Monday December 27 and Tuesday December 28. A traveler or a courier who plans against only one country’s calendar will get it wrong on at least one day.
The second is Friday, June 18, which closes US federal offices for Juneteenth and sits three days before the UK’s Early May holiday in the other direction of the year — a good reminder that the two calendars are not the same shape. May 31 is a Monday holiday in both countries, and it is the only date in 2027 that is a federal holiday and a UK bank holiday on the same day.
Add the US dates to your calendar
Download the 2027 US federal holidays (.ics). The file holds eleven one-time, all-day entries using the observed dates, so December 24 appears and December 25 does not. Import it into your calendar app, then set alerts there — the file itself carries no notifications.
We publish the observed dates because those are the days the closures happen. If you need the legal dates instead — for payroll, or for a calendar that should not shift — edit the entries after import rather than assuming the file gives you both.
We did not test the import in every calendar application. If your app shows the entries with wrong times, that is usually an all-day event handling difference rather than a bad file.
Looking back rather than ahead? The 2026 calendar has the same list for this year, including what is left between now and December 25.