Hong Kong 2026 Public Holidays

New Year's Day

1 January. In many countries the day off moves to the following Monday when it falls on a weekend.

The first day of the Gregorian calendar year, and the most widely observed public holiday in the world — a day off in almost every country that uses the Gregorian calendar, regardless of religion. Several countries extend the break to 2 January, and some in East Asia keep both the Gregorian and a separate lunar new year.

Lunar New Year's Day

The first day of the first lunar month, between 21 January and 20 February.

The start of the lunar year and Hong Kong's biggest holiday, marked by flower markets, lion dances and lai see red packets. The first three days of the new year are all public holidays.

Second Day of Lunar New Year

The second day of the first lunar month.

Traditionally the day married daughters return to their parents' home. The Victoria Harbour fireworks display is held on this evening.

Third Day of Lunar New Year

The third day of the first lunar month.

Chek Hau, considered inauspicious for visiting relatives — traditionally spent at temples or at the Sha Tin racecourse instead.

Good Friday

The Friday before Easter Sunday.

Commemorates the crucifixion, and is the most widely observed Christian public holiday after Christmas. Together with Easter Monday it produces a four-day weekend in much of Europe, the Commonwealth and Latin America. In several countries it also carries trading or entertainment restrictions beyond the day off itself.

Holy Saturday

The Saturday before Easter Sunday.

The day between Good Friday and Easter Sunday. Falling on a Saturday, it is a formal public holiday in only a handful of countries and an observance in most.

Tomb Sweeping Day

Around 4–5 April, at the Qingming solar term.

Ching Ming, when families tend ancestral graves. Hong Kong's cemeteries and columbaria run special transport arrangements for the crowds.

Day off for Tomb Sweeping Day

A substitute when Ching Ming falls on a Sunday or coincides with Easter.

Hong Kong grants a substitute on the next weekday when a public holiday lands on a Sunday or overlaps another holiday, so the statutory count is preserved.

Easter Monday

The Monday after Easter Sunday.

A public holiday across most of Europe, the Commonwealth and Latin America, extending the Easter weekend to four days. Notably not a holiday in the United States, Portugal or Spain outside Catalonia and the Balearics.

Day off for Easter Monday

A substitute when Easter Monday coincides with another public holiday.

The substitute for Easter Monday, most often needed when it clashes with Ching Ming.

Labour Day

1 May in most countries.

International Workers' Day, commemorating the 1886 Haymarket affair in Chicago, and a public holiday in most of the world. The United States and Canada are the notable exceptions, holding their Labor Day in September instead.

Buddha's Birthday

The eighth day of the fourth lunar month, in May.

Marks the birth of the Buddha, observed with the ritual bathing of Buddha statues. Became a public holiday in 1999, shortly after the handover.

Day following Buddha's Birthday

A substitute when Buddha's Birthday falls on a Sunday.

The substitute for Buddha's Birthday.

Dragon Boat Festival

The fifth day of the fifth lunar month, in May or June.

Tuen Ng, commemorating the poet Qu Yuan. Hong Kong's dragon boat races draw international crews and the territory eats zongzi rice dumplings throughout.

Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Establishment Day

1 July.

Marks the 1997 transfer of sovereignty from Britain to China and the establishment of the Hong Kong SAR.

Day after Mid-Autumn Festival

The day after the fifteenth of the eighth lunar month, in September or October.

Hong Kong makes the day *after* the Mid-Autumn Festival the public holiday rather than the day itself — the lantern celebrations run late into the night, so the holiday covers the morning after.

National Day

Varies by country — a founding, unification, or constitutional anniversary.

The principal patriotic holiday of a country that does not frame its national day as independence — a founding, unification, revolution or monarch's day depending on the state.

Chung Yeung Festival

The ninth day of the ninth lunar month, in October.

The Double Ninth Festival, when families climb hills and visit ancestral graves for the second time in the year, after Ching Ming.

Day off for Chung Yeung Festival

A substitute when the Chung Yeung Festival falls on a Sunday.

The substitute for the Double Ninth Festival.

Christmas Day

25 December. The day off moves to the following weekday when it falls on a weekend.

The most widely observed public holiday after New Year's Day, a day off in the great majority of countries including many with no Christian majority, where it functions as a secular end-of-year holiday. Orthodox churches following the Julian calendar keep it on 7 January instead.

First Weekday After Christmas Day

26 December, or the next weekday when it falls on a Sunday.

Hong Kong's equivalent of Boxing Day, retained from British administration.