Public holidays · Asia · 2026
Sri Lanka Holidays 2026: Public Holidays in Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka has 25 national public holidays in 2026. 16 of them fall on a weekday and 9 on a weekend. The next public holiday is Diwali on Sunday, 8 November (in 12 days). There are 6 long weekends and 6 more if you take a bridge day off.
12days
Next public holiday
Diwali
Sunday, 8 November 2026 · දීපවාලි උත්සව දිනය
25
National public holidays · #6
16
On a weekday (Mon–Fri)
6
Long weekends (3+ days)
0
Regional holidays
Sri Lanka public holidays 2026 — full list
| Date | Holiday | Local name | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Weekend | Duruthu Full Moon Poya Day | දුරුතු පුර පසළොස්වක පෝය දිනය | Public holiday |
| Tamil Thai Pongal Day | දෙමළ තෛපොංැලල් දිනය | Public holiday | |
| Weekend | Nawam Full Moon Poya Day | නවම් පුර පසළොස්වක පෝය දිනය | Public holiday |
| Independence Day | නිදහස් සමරු දිනය | Public holiday | |
| Weekend | Maha Sivarathri Day | මහ සිවරාත්රි දිනය | Public holiday |
| Medin Full Moon Poya Day | මැදින් පුර පසළොස්වක පෝය දිනය | Public holiday | |
| Weekend | Eid al-Fitr | ඊදුල් ෆීතර් | Public holiday |
| Bak Full Moon Poya Day | බක් පුර පසළොස්වක පෝය දිනය | Public holiday | |
| Good Friday | මහ සිකුරාදා දිනය | Public holiday | |
| Day Before Sinhala and Tamil New Year | සිංහල හා දෙමළ අලුත් අවුරුදු දිනට පෙර දිනය | Public holiday | |
| Sinhala and Tamil New Year | සිංහල හා දෙමළ අලුත් අවුරුදු දිනය | Public holiday | |
| International Workers' Day | ලොක කම්කරු දිනය | Public holiday | |
| Vesak Full Moon Poya Day | වෙසක් පුර පසළොස්වක පෝය දිනය | Public holiday | |
| Weekend | Day Following Vesak Full Moon Poya Day | වෙසක් පුර පසළොස්වක පෝය දිනට පසු දිනය | Public holiday |
| Eid al-Adha | ඊදුල් අල්හා | Public holiday | |
| Weekend | Adhi Poson Full Moon Poya Day | අධි පොසොන් පුර පසළොස්වක පෝය දිනය | Public holiday |
| Poson Full Moon Poya Day | පොසොන් පුර පසළොස්වක පෝය දිනය | Public holiday | |
| Esala Full Moon Poya Day | ඇසල පුර පසළොස්වක පෝය දිනය | Public holiday | |
| Prophet's Birthday | නබි නායකතුමාගේ උපන් දිනය | Public holiday | |
| Nikini Full Moon Poya Day | නිකිණි පුර පසළොස්වක පෝය දිනය | Public holiday | |
| Weekend | Binara Full Moon Poya Day | බිනර පුර පසළොස්වක පෝය දිනය | Public holiday |
| Weekend | Vap Full Moon Poya Day | වප් පුර පසළොස්වක පෝය දිනය | Public holiday |
| Weekend | Diwali Next | දීපවාලි උත්සව දිනය | Public holiday |
| Il Full Moon Poya Day | ඉල් පුර පසළොස්වක පෝය දිනය | Public holiday | |
| Unduvap Full Moon Poya Day | උඳුවප් පුර පසළොස්වක පෝය දිනය | Public holiday | |
| Christmas Day | නත්තල් උත්සව දිනය | Public holiday |
Data: Nager.Date public holiday database and the vacanza/holidays library (both MIT licence). Dates of religious holidays based on the lunar calendar may shift by a day after official announcements.
Sri Lanka holiday calendar 2026
- National holiday
- Regional holiday
- Bridge day (take off for a long weekend)
January 2
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February 3
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March 2
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April 4
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May 5
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June 1
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July 1
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August 2
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September 1
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October 1
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November 2
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December 2
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Long weekends in Sri Lanka 2026
6 long weekends come for free, and 6 more need just one or two days of leave. Plan your trips around these dates.
4days
Thu 15 Jan – Sun 18 Jan
Take off Fri 16 Jan
3days
Sat 28 Feb – Mon 2 Mar
No leave needed
5days
Wed 1 Apr – Sun 5 Apr
Take off Thu 2 Apr
3days
Fri 3 Apr – Sun 5 Apr
No leave needed
4days
Sat 11 Apr – Tue 14 Apr
No leave needed
3days
Fri 1 May – Sun 3 May
No leave needed
4days
Thu 28 May – Sun 31 May
Take off Fri 29 May
3days
Sat 27 Jun – Mon 29 Jun
No leave needed
5days
Wed 26 Aug – Sun 30 Aug
Take off Fri 28 Aug
4days
Sat 21 Nov – Tue 24 Nov
Take off Mon 23 Nov
5days
Wed 23 Dec – Sun 27 Dec
Take off Thu 24 Dec
3days
Fri 25 Dec – Sun 27 Dec
No leave needed
Frequently asked questions about holidays in Sri Lanka
How many public holidays does Sri Lanka have in 2026?
25 national public holidays. That ranks Sri Lanka #6 of 235 countries by number of holidays in 2026.
When is the next public holiday in Sri Lanka?
Diwali (දීපවාලි උත්සව දිනය) on Sunday, 8 November 2026 — in 12 days. After that: Il Full Moon Poya Day on Tuesday, 24 November.
How many long weekends are there in Sri Lanka in 2026?
6 long weekends of three or more days without taking leave, and 6 more with a bridge day. Best deal: take 1 day off (Thu 2 Apr) for 5 days in a row from 1 April.
Which Sri Lanka public holidays fall on a weekend in 2026?
Duruthu Full Moon Poya Day (Sat 3 Jan), Nawam Full Moon Poya Day (Sun 1 Feb), Maha Sivarathri Day (Sun 15 Feb), Eid al-Fitr (Sat 21 Mar), Day Following Vesak Full Moon Poya Day (Sat 2 May), Adhi Poson Full Moon Poya Day (Sat 30 May), Binara Full Moon Poya Day (Sat 26 Sep), Vap Full Moon Poya Day (Sun 25 Oct) and Diwali (Sun 8 Nov). Whether a substitute day off is given depends on national law.
Which month has the most public holidays in Sri Lanka?
May, with 5 national holidays: International Workers' Day, Vesak Full Moon Poya Day, Day Following Vesak Full Moon Poya Day, Eid al-Adha and Adhi Poson Full Moon Poya Day.