School break 2026/2027

Exact dates

Christmas break · I–XII клас

Thursday, 24 December 2026 — Sunday, 3 January 2027

Duration: 11 days
70 days until the break starts.

Duration is measured in calendar days, including the first and last date, weekends and public holidays within the break.

← All school breaks

Next school breaks

Interterm break30 January 2027 — 2 February 2027I–XII клас

Duration: 4 days
107 days until the break starts.

Spring break3 April 2027 — 11 April 2027I–XI клас

Duration: 9 days
170 days until the break starts.

Spring break, final year8 April 2027 — 11 April 2027XII клас

Duration: 4 days
175 days until the break starts.

When is the Christmas school break?

The Christmas break for the 2026/2027 school year begins on Thursday, 24 December 2026 and ends on Sunday, 3 January 2027. It lasts 11 calendar days and applies to all pupils in grades I–XII.

These school holiday dates are set out in Ministry of Education order No RD09-3345/31.08.2026. For families planning a holiday or arranging time away from work, this is the full school break, rather than a period of public holidays alone.

Which dates are public holidays?

The break opens with Bulgaria’s Christmas holidays. Christmas Eve on 24 December, Christmas Day on 25 December and the Second Day of Christmas on 26 December are statutory non-working days. In this school year, they fall on Thursday, Friday and Saturday respectively.

Monday, 28 December 2026 is also a day off, observed for the Second Day of Christmas. New Year’s Day, Friday, 1 January 2027, is an official non-working day and falls within the school break.

For work and leave planning, distinguish these public holidays from the wider 11-day school holiday. The school break and the statutory days off overlap, but they are not the same thing.

Religious observances around the break

St Stephen’s Day falls on Sunday, 27 December 2026, during the Christmas break. It is listed as a religious holiday, rather than an additional statutory day off.

Epiphany, known in Bulgaria as Jordanovden, falls on Wednesday, 6 January 2027, after the Christmas school break has ended. This religious holiday commemorates Christ’s baptism in the River Jordan and is marked by water blessings and cross-retrieval rituals.

Planning leave around the school holidays

School breaks do not give working parents an automatic right to days off. Parents who need leave during the Christmas school holiday take it under the general rules, separately from the statutory non-working days.

The next scheduled school break is the interterm break, from Saturday, 30 January to Tuesday, 2 February 2027. It lasts four calendar days and, like the Christmas break, applies to grades I–XII.

Christmas break 2026/2027