What is a Public Holiday?
A public holiday is a day designated by law or government decree on which most businesses, schools and government offices are closed and workers are entitled to a day off (often with pay). Public holidays are also known as bank holidays (UK, Ireland), statutory holidays or stat holidays (Canada), federal holidays (USA), gazetted holidays (India, Malaysia, South Africa) and national holidays worldwide.
Public Holiday vs Bank Holiday โ What's the Difference?
In the United Kingdom, the terms bank holiday and public holiday are used interchangeably, but they have slightly different origins. Bank holidays were originally days when the Bank of England was closed โ established by the Bank Holidays Act 1871. Over time, these became recognised as public holidays for most workers. In Scotland, bank holidays are slightly different from England and Wales. In other countries, the terminology varies: Canada uses "statutory holiday", the USA uses "federal holiday", and India uses "gazetted holiday".
How to Check if Today is a Public Holiday
Use our public holiday checker to instantly see whether today is a public holiday in your country. Our tool automatically detects your location and shows upcoming public holidays, recently passed holidays, and a full calendar view. You can also search for any country to check its public holidays for 2025 and 2026.
Public Holidays 2025 โ Key Dates Worldwide
| Holiday | Date 2025 | Countries |
|---|---|---|
| New Year's Day | 1 January 2025 | Almost all countries worldwide |
| Good Friday | 18 April 2025 | UK, Australia, Canada, Germany, South Africa |
| Easter Monday | 21 April 2025 | UK, Ireland, Australia, Germany, France, Italy |
| Anzac Day | 25 April 2025 | Australia, New Zealand |
| May Day / Labour Day | 1 May 2025 | Germany, France, Spain, Italy, South Africa |
| Independence Day (USA) | 4 July 2025 | United States |
| Bastille Day | 14 July 2025 | France |
| Independence Day (India) | 15 August 2025 | India |
| Christmas Day | 25 December 2025 | Most countries worldwide |
| Boxing Day | 26 December 2025 | UK, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa |
Frequently Asked Questions
Use the public holiday checker above โ it automatically detects your country and shows whether today is a public holiday. The tool shows today's date highlighted in the calendar and displays a "Today!" badge if there is a public holiday on the current date.
The next bank holiday depends on your country. Use our checker above โ it shows upcoming public holidays with a countdown of how many days until each holiday. For UK bank holidays, upcoming dates are shown for England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. For other countries, search or browse the country pages.
In the UK, bank holidays and public holidays are effectively the same thing โ both refer to official days off established by the Banking and Financial Dealings Act 1971. In other countries, the terminology differs: "federal holiday" (USA), "statutory holiday" (Canada), "gazetted holiday" (India) and "national holiday" are all types of public holidays.
England and Wales have 8 bank holidays per year. Scotland has 9 bank holidays (including St Andrew's Day and an extra New Year holiday). Northern Ireland has 10 bank holidays (including St Patrick's Day and the Battle of the Somme). The exact dates vary each year because Good Friday and Easter Monday are calculated based on the lunar calendar.
This depends on your employment contract. In the UK, there is no automatic legal right to extra pay for working on a bank holiday โ it depends on what your contract states. Many employers pay double time or time-and-a-half for bank holiday working, but this is not a legal requirement. Check your employment contract or speak to your HR department.