Good Friday and Easter Monday 2026 fall on 3 April and 6 April, bookending an Easter weekend observed as public holidays across much of Europe, the Commonwealth and the Americas. But the two days have different footprints: Good Friday is the more widely observed of the pair. Here is how they work, where they are days off, and what to expect.
The 2026 dates
Easter Sunday 2026 is 5 April (determined by the ancient computus formula — the first Sunday after the first full moon on or after 21 March). Good Friday, commemorating the crucifixion, is therefore 3 April; Easter Monday, the day after the resurrection celebration, is 6 April. The four-day stretch from Friday to Monday is one of the year’s great long weekends wherever both days are holidays.
Where each day is a public holiday in 2026
- Good Friday (3 April): public/bank holiday in the UK, Germany, Spain, Canada, Australia, India, Pakistan (for Christian employees in some notifications — check locally) and most of Europe and the Commonwealth. Notably not a US federal holiday.
- Easter Monday (6 April): bank holiday in England and Wales, Germany, France, Italy and Australia; observed by Canada’s federal public service. Not observed in the US, and not a holiday in Scotland (which keeps Easter Monday as a normal day).
Why the US skips them (federally)
A common question: why aren’t Good Friday and Easter Monday US federal holidays? The US federal calendar simply never included them — a reflection of the country’s separation of church and state in official observances. Some states and many private employers do grant Good Friday, and the stock market closes for it, but federally it is a normal working Friday. This surprises many Europeans visiting America in spring.
What Easter weekend feels like
Where both days are holidays — the UK, Germany, France, Italy, Australia — the 3–6 April 2026 weekend is a major travel period: expect busy roads on Thursday evening and Monday afternoon, and book accommodation early. Shops close on Good Friday in many countries (in Germany, by law) and often on Easter Sunday too; Easter Monday is the traditional day for outings and, in Italy, the beloved Pasquetta picnic. Churches hold special services across the weekend, and chocolate eggs — the great commercial tradition — appear in shops weeks beforehand.
Holy Week traditions around the world
The days around Good Friday and Easter Monday carry centuries of tradition. In Spain and Latin America, Semana Santa processions — hooded penitents, towering floats, brass bands — are solemn spectacles drawing millions. In the Philippines, some devotees still practise extreme penance, while in Jerusalem thousands walk the Via Dolorosa on Good Friday itself. The UK’s hot cross buns, marked with a cross and eaten on Good Friday, date to at least the 18th century. Easter eggs descend from pre-Christian spring symbols, later folded into the resurrection story; the White House Easter Egg Roll has run since 1878. And Easter Monday’s traditions range from Italy’s Pasquetta countryside picnics to the water-dousing Śmigus-Dyngus in Poland. Whatever the custom, the weekend’s shape is the same: reflection, then renewal, then — on Monday — the great exhale outdoors.