Iceland public holidays
Iceland's public holidays for calendar year 2026. Statutory basis: Lög nr. 88/1971 um 40 stunda vinnuviku, 6. gr., which defines the frídagar as the church holy days of the National Church, the first day of summer, 1 May, 17 June, and Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve from 13:00 — plus the first Monday in August (frídagur verslunarmanna), added with effect from 1983. The church holy days themselves are listed in Lög nr. 32/1997 um helgidagafrið, 2. gr. Movable feasts follow the WESTERN (Gregorian) Easter — Easter Sunday is 5 April 2026.
| Current value | 30 days held |
|---|---|
| In force from | 2026-01-01 |
| In force until | 2026-12-31 |
| Official source | Alþingi, Lagasafn — Lög nr. 88/1971 um 40 stunda vinnuviku, 6. gr.: 'Frídagar eru helgidagar þjóðkirkjunnar, sumardagurinn fyrsti, 1. maí og 17. júní, enn fremur aðfangadagur jóla og gamlársdagur frá kl. 13.' plus the first Monday in August from 1983; Lög nr. 32/1997 um helgidagafrið, 2. gr. (list of helgidagar þjóðkirkjunnar: sunnudagar, nýársdagur, skírdagur, föstudagurinn langi, páskadagur, annar í páskum, uppstigningardagur, hvítasunnudagur, annar í hvítasunnu, aðfangadagur jóla frá kl. 18, jóladagur, annar í jólum); Lög nr. 20/1987 um sjómannadag (first Sunday in June). Movable dates computed from Western Easter Sunday = 5 April 2026. |
| Last verified | 2026-07-30 |
| Verification | primary — No verification limitation recorded — read from the official source cited. |
| Provenance | source fingerprint |
What this value means
FIVE MOVABLE FAMILIES, not just Easter — this is where Iceland calendars usually go wrong. (1) Western Easter, Easter Sunday 5 Apr 2026: Maundy Thursday 2 Apr, Good Friday 3 Apr, Easter Sunday 5 Apr, Easter Monday 6 Apr, Ascension (Easter +39) 14 May, Whit Sunday (Easter +49) 24 May, Whit Monday 25 May. (2) SUMARDAGURINN FYRSTI — the first day of summer in the old Norse calendar, defined as the first THURSDAY AFTER 18 APRIL, so it always falls 19-25 April; 18 April 2026 is a Saturday, giving Thursday 23 APRIL 2026. (3) SJÓMANNADAGURINN — first Sunday in June under Lög nr. 20/1987; 1 June 2026 is a Monday, so the first Sunday is 7 JUNE 2026. The Act's tie-breaker (if Whit Sunday falls on the first Sunday of June, Seamen's Day moves to the following Sunday) does not bite in 2026, since Whit Sunday is 24 May. IMPORTANT SCOPE LIMIT: Sjómannadagurinn is a statutory general holiday for SEAFARERS, not for the whole workforce; it is listed here because it is a statutory holiday, but it is not a day off for shore-based employees generally. (4) FRÍDAGUR VERSLUNARMANNA — first Monday in August, i.e. 3 AUGUST 2026, paid on the same rules as other general holidays under collective agreements; the surrounding 'verslunarmannahelgi' long weekend is Iceland's biggest domestic travel weekend. (5) Fixed: 1 Jan, 1 May, 17 June, 25 Dec, 26 Dec. HALF DAYS NOT LISTED IN THE ARRAY: Aðfangadagur (Christmas Eve, 24 Dec) and Gamlársdagur (New Year's Eve, 31 Dec) are holidays only FROM 13:00 under 6. gr. of Act 88/1971 (helgidagafriður on Christmas Eve runs from 18:00); they are working mornings, not full public holidays, so serving them as whole days would overstate the entitlement. NO SUBSTITUTE-DAY RULE: Iceland does not move holidays that fall at the weekend. In 2026 this costs employees 26 December (Saturday) and, for the seafarers' day, 7 June (a Sunday anyway). Weekday spread in 2026: 1 Jan Thu, 2 Apr Thu, 3 Apr Fri, 6 Apr Mon, 23 Apr Thu, 1 May Fri, 14 May Thu, 25 May Mon, 17 Jun Wed, 3 Aug Mon, 25 Dec Fri. All Sundays are helgidagar under Act 32/1997 but are not enumerated here. 2027 EXTENSION (2026-07-30): the statutory holidays of log nr. 88/1971 (40-hour week) art. 6 read with the helgidagar thjodkirkjunnar defined in log nr. 32/1997 art. 2. Two nth-weekday rules are computed: Sumardagurinn fyrsti is the first Thursday after 18 April (22 April 2027, since 18 April is a Sunday) and Fridagur verslunarmanna is the first Monday of August (2 August 2027); Sjomannadagurinn is the first Sunday of June (6 June 2027) and remains, as in 2026, a statutory general holiday for seafarers only. Iceland applies NO weekend substitution whatsoever, which bites hard in 2027: Labour Day (1 May), Christmas Day (25 December) and Boxing Day (26 December) all fall on a weekend and are simply lost. MODELLING NOTE: Icelandic law also makes 24 and 31 December half-holidays from 13:00; as in 2026 those partial days are not listed as full-day entries here.
Get it programmatically
curl https://euroref.dev/v1/is/public-holidays
# Free.
# History: curl https://euroref.dev/v1/is/public-holidays/history?from=2020-01-01
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