Using the annual calendar
The calendar shows all 12 months of a selected year, with years available from 2024 to 2029. Days off are marked in red and church holidays in gold, keeping the two categories distinct when checking dates for work, leave or a visit to Bulgaria.
Each date links to its own day page. The annual calendar can also be printed or downloaded as an .ics file, so it is available beyond the year view on this page.
Which public holidays are days off?
Bulgaria’s official public holidays and days off are set out in Article 154 of the Labour Code. They include fixed dates throughout the year and the Easter period from Good Friday through Easter Monday.
Among the fixed holidays, May has days off on 1, 6 and 24 May, while September has holidays on 6 and 22 September. The December holidays cover 24, 25 and 26 December. These dates are useful reference points when looking at the annual pattern of days off.
The standard working week is Monday to Friday, with eight hours of work a day. By contrast, 1 November is a non-attendance day only for educational institutions, rather than a general day off.
What happens when holidays fall on weekends?
When a fixed public holiday falls on a Saturday or Sunday, the first working day after it is a day off. This rule matters when checking where a holiday break ends and the working week resumes.
Easter days are not compensated. The Council of Ministers may also declare one-off extra non-working days by decision, separately from the regular public holiday rules.
Why do Easter dates change?
Orthodox Easter is calculated using the Julian calendar, and its date changes each year. It falls on 12 April in 2026 and 2 May in 2027.
Good Friday, Holy Saturday and Easter Monday depend on Easter’s date. So do Palm Sunday, Lazarus Saturday, St Theodore’s Saturday and Forgiveness Sunday. The calendar’s separate colour markings distinguish church holidays from days off.