Regional holidays and days off
The regional and city holidays listed here mark city days in Veliko Tarnovo, Varna, Sofia and Burgas. They belong to a different category from the official public holidays and days off set out in Article 154 of Bulgaria’s Labour Code.
For planning work or leave, that distinction matters. The regional holiday label should not be read as confirmation of a nationwide day off. The city days in this category are not included in the source’s list of statutory public holidays.
When are city holidays in 2026?
The listed city holidays run from March to December. Veliko Tarnovo City Day falls in March, Varna City Day in August, Sofia City Day in September and Burgas City Day in December.
Most fall outside the standard Monday-to-Friday working week in 2026: Veliko Tarnovo and Burgas have Sunday city days, while Varna’s is on a Saturday. Sofia City Day, on Thursday, 17 September, is the only one of the four listed regional holidays that falls on a weekday.
Do weekend city holidays mean Monday off?
Under the Labour Code rule, when a fixed official public holiday falls on a Saturday or Sunday, the first working day after it is a day off. Easter days are not compensated in this way.
This rule applies to official public holidays; it does not establish a replacement day off for a date listed only as a regional holiday. The weekend city days shown here therefore do not, by themselves, provide a basis for planning a Monday off.
Planning work and leave in Bulgaria
Bulgaria’s standard working week is Monday to Friday, with eight hours of work a day. When using the city holiday calendar to plan leave or a visit, keep regional observances separate from the national public holiday calendar.
The Council of Ministers may also declare one-off extra non-working days by decision. Some days have a narrower scope: 1 November is a non-attendance day only for educational institutions. These distinctions help separate city observances, nationwide days off and days that apply only to education.