What are the UN official holidays for 2025 and 2026?

The official holidays for 2026 at United Nations Headquarters have been designated as follows:

• 1 January              New Year’s Day
• 20 March              Eid al-Fitr            
• 3 April                    Good Friday        
• 25 May                  Memorial Day
• 27 May                  Eid al-Adha
• 3 July                     Independence Day* (observed)
• 7 September         Labour Day
• 26 November       Thanksgiving Day
• 25 December        Christmas Day

Floating holidays for 2026: 

• 7 January - Orthodox Christmas
• 17 February - Lunar New Year
• 23 March - Nowruz** (observed)
• 10 April - Orthodox Good Friday        
• 1 May - Day of Vesak
• 19 June - Juneteenth
• 21 September - Yom Kippur
• 9 November - Diwali*** (observed)
• 24 November - Gurpurab

* Independence Day falls on Saturday, 4 July, but will be observed on Friday, 3 July.

** Nowruz day falls on Saturday, 21 March, but will be observed on Monday, 23 March.

*** Diwali day falls on Sunday, 8 November, but will be observed on Monday, 9 November.

The official holidays for 2025 at United Nations Headquarters have been designated as follows:

• 1 January         New Year’s Day
• 31 March          Eid al-Fitr *(observed)
• 18 April             Good Friday **
• 26 May             Memorial Day
• 6 June              Eid al-Adha *** (observed)
• 4 July                Independence Day
• 1 September    Labour Day
• 27 November   Thanksgiving Day
• 25 December   Christmas Day

The General Assembly, in its resolutions 69/250, 72/19 and 78/245, recognized the significance of a number of other holidays. Accordingly, in the interest of respecting the diversity of the staff of the United Nations, staff members are given the option of observing any one of the following eight floating holidays (2025):

                   7 January              Orthodox Christmas

                   29 January            Lunar New Year

                   20 March               Nowruz

                   12 May                  Day of Vesak

                   19 June                 Juneteenth

                    2 October             Yom Kippur

                    20 October           Diwali

                    5 November         Gurpurab

* Eid al-Fitr falls on Sunday, 30 March, but will be observed on Monday, 31 March.

** Orthodox Good Friday falls on 18 April which coincides with the official holiday of Good Friday and therefore is not included in the list of floating holidays.

*** Eid al-Adha falls on Saturday, 7 June, but will be observed on Friday, 6 June.

NOTE: ST/IC/-- documents on official holidays stopped being issued in 2022.