Singapore 2026 public holiday guide
Singapore’s public holidays reflect a multicultural calendar: New Year’s Day, two days of Chinese New Year, Good Friday, Labour Day, Vesak Day, Hari Raya Puasa, Hari Raya Haji, National Day, Deepavali and Christmas. The Ministry of Manpower gazettes the list each year. There is no Mainland-style weekend swap that manufactures a seven-day block; a Sunday holiday is usually replaced by the following Monday.
Islamic and Hindu holidays move. Do not reuse last year’s Hari Raya or Deepavali dates in a contract annex. Around National Day (9 August; Monday 10 August is in lieu in 2026) expect rehearsals, road closures and hotel premiums near the Bay.
Chinese New Year 2026 begins on Tuesday 17 February. Chinese colleagues are least reachable then; Malay and Indian colleagues are not automatically off. Weight the roster by who you actually employ. Malls stay open; some traditional shops pause. Exchanges and government counters close.
A regional-HQ calendar is not a factory calendar. Cargo sitting in Johor, Batam or Ho Chi Minh City follows those calendars. Confirm the current MOM gazette before you lock freight or an all-hands launch.
Planning tips
- Chinese New Year: busy F&B; some traditional shops pause briefly.
- National Day: crowds and road closures near the Bay.
- Hari Raya dates shift annually — verify early.
- Christmas: peak shopping and restaurant bookings.
Singapore 2026 public holiday table
This 2026 view lists 14 public holiday dates for Singapore. The earliest entry is 2026-01-01 (New Year's Day, Thu) and the latest is 2026-12-25 (Christmas Day). The table below is fully readable without JavaScript.
| Date | Weekday | Holiday |
|---|---|---|
| 2026-01-01 | Thu | New Year's Day |
| 2026-02-17 | Tue | Spring Festival |
| 2026-02-18 | Wed | Spring Festival |
| 2026-03-21 | Sat | Hari Raya Puasa |
| 2026-04-03 | Fri | Good Friday |
| 2026-05-01 | Fri | Labour Day |
| 2026-05-27 | Wed | Hari Raya Haji |
| 2026-05-31 | Sun | Vesak Day |
| 2026-06-01 | Mon | Vesak Day (in lieu) |
| 2026-08-09 | Sun | National Day |
| 2026-08-10 | Mon | National Day Holiday |
| 2026-11-08 | Sun | Deepavali |
| 2026-11-09 | Mon | Deepavali (in lieu) |
| 2026-12-25 | Fri | Christmas Day |
Note: Compiled from public notices for planning. Confirm critical dates with official sources.
Gazetted public holidays only
Singapore’s list is published each year by the Ministry of Manpower. It is multicultural: New Year’s Day, two days of Chinese New Year, Good Friday, Labour Day, Vesak, Hari Raya Puasa, Hari Raya Haji, National Day, Deepavali and Christmas. There is no Mainland-style weekend swap to build a seven-day block. If a holiday falls on Sunday, the following Monday is usually in lieu. In 2026 National Day is Sunday 9 August (Monday 10 August off); Vesak is Sunday 31 May (Monday 1 June off); Deepavali is Sunday 8 November (Monday 9 November off).
Islamic and Hindu dates move. Do not reuse last year’s Hari Raya or Deepavali dates in a contract annex.
“Singapore is off” is usually wrong. Chinese New Year hits Chinese colleagues hardest; Hari Raya hits Malay colleagues; Deepavali hits Hindu colleagues. Weight the roster by who you employ.
The 2026 list: fixed days versus moving days
Relatively stable: New Year’s Day, Labour Day, National Day, Christmas, and Good Friday on the Christian calendar. Good Friday 2026 is Friday 3 April, shared with the UK, Hong Kong and Macau — a narrow day for regional finance and support desks.
Moving: lunar, Islamic and Hindu festivals. Chinese New Year is 17–18 February; Hari Raya Puasa 21 March; Hari Raya Haji 27 May; Vesak 31 May (1 June in lieu); Deepavali 8 November (9 November in lieu). Vesak does not automatically align with Buddha’s Birthday in Korea or Hong Kong — do not assume an “Asian Vesak sync.”
- 1 January — New Year’s Day
- 17–18 February — Chinese New Year
- 21 March — Hari Raya Puasa
- 3 April — Good Friday
- 1 May — Labour Day; 27 May — Hari Raya Haji; 31 May — Vesak (1 June in lieu)
- 9 August — National Day (10 August in lieu)
- 8 November — Deepavali (9 November in lieu)
- 25 December — Christmas Day
Chinese New Year: an urban pause, not a blackout
Chinese New Year is two days. In 2026 the first day is 17 February. Chinese colleagues are least reachable then; Malay and Indian colleagues may still be in. Malls stay open; some traditional shops pause.
Compared with mainland China’s long Spring Festival block or Hong Kong’s three general holidays, Singapore’s two days are an urban pause. A firm with HQ here and plants in Vietnam or Indonesia must not schedule production on the MOM list alone.
New Year’s Eve (Monday 16 February) is not a public holiday, but many Chinese teams thin out in the afternoon. Keep all-hands launches out of that week.
National Day week: rehearsals, closures, three-day weekend
National Day week brings rehearsals, road closures and higher hotel rates around the Bay. The Monday in lieu often creates a three-day weekend. Do not put an all-hands launch in that week.
It is one of the few days that approaches a true nationwide office pause. Retail and hospitality stay busy; visitor numbers often rise.
If your counterpart sits in Johor, remember the two National Days differ. JB–Singapore commuters will see lopsided border days.
Vesak, Hari Raya, Deepavali: three moving days, three audiences
Hari Raya Puasa ends Ramadan and often extends with annual leave, so Malay colleagues may be unreachable longer than one gazetted day. Hari Raya Haji follows about two months later — 27 May in 2026.
Vesak falls on Sunday 31 May 2026 with Monday 1 June in lieu. Deepavali lights up Little India; in 2026 the Sunday date pulls a Monday substitute.
Weight the roster by composition. A Chinese-heavy team keys on lunar New Year; a Malay-heavy team on Hari Raya; a Hindu-heavy team on Deepavali. “The country is off” is the wrong mental model.
What a financial centre actually stops
Exchanges, bank counters and government offices close. Changi, the port, hotels and emergency wards do not. Goods sitting in Vietnam or Indonesia follow those calendars, not MOM’s.
Some festivals overlap Malaysia; National Day does not. Good Friday overlaps the UK, Hong Kong and Macau, narrowing the London–Hong Kong–Singapore triangle on the same Friday.
Write SLAs with an explicit business-day calendar: MOM public holidays, or the customer’s industry practice. Retail and finance are not the same set.
HQ calendars are not factory calendars
The classic Singapore–Vietnam–Indonesia error is reading only MOM. That list governs CBD offices and Singapore bank windows; cargo in Binh Duong or Batam follows local holidays. Auto-syncing Singapore public holidays into a plant MES will fail on Vietnamese Tết or Indonesian Independence Day.
Early May into early June is dense: Labour Day, Hari Raya Haji and Vesak’s in-lieu day stack, on top of China’s Labour Day window and Thailand’s Coronation Day. Mark 1 May–1 June as a multi-market soft blackout rather than gambling day by day.
Shared calendars work better in three layers: MOM holidays, company discretionary days, and priority religious leave for key colleagues. One colour cannot express Singapore’s pluralism.
Changi, the port and finance windows: what actually stops
As an aviation and shipping hub, Singapore does not freeze on public holidays. Changi and port core operations continue; hotels and F&B keep serving visitors. What narrows is bank counters, the exchange, government offices and most CBD floors. Transit passengers barely notice; anyone opening an account, filing a regulatory pack or completing a corporate settlement hits a hard wall.
Regional treasury teams should write MOM holidays into the payments calendar: SGD clearing and some corporate cut-offs move earlier, and instructions lodged on the holiday often wait until the next business day. Cross-border Singapore–Malaysia or Singapore–Indonesia payments also stack the counterparty’s calendar — especially around Hari Raya.
Global customer-support centres often roster through public holidays. B2B counterparties in banks, law firms or government-linked bodies usually do not. Check the industry before you check the country name.
JB–Singapore commuters see asymmetric days: one side off, the other jammed or oddly quiet. Dual-registered teams need two rows — MOM Singapore and the Malaysian state list.
Plural teams and annual leave: gazetted days are only the base
Singapore’s gazetted count is not large by international standards. What lengthens real downtime is annual leave stacked on public holidays. Malay colleagues around Hari Raya, Chinese colleagues around lunar New Year and Hindu colleagues around Deepavali create partial team blackouts in different months. Schedule launches against the core members’ cultural calendars first, then against MOM.
Employment contracts usually define public-holiday treatment; some firms add floating or volunteer leave. Assignees on foreign governing law can end up “off the roster but not on the holiday list.” HR onboarding should state clearly whether the Singapore work-location MOM list or the parent-company calendar governs.
For Europe- or US-based managers of multi-site Asia teams, the trap is projecting Singapore’s always-on city energy onto holiday reachability. The CBD can look busy while banks and ministries are closed; Chinese colleagues at lunar New Year are far less reachable than Malay or Indian colleagues that same week.
Define SLA business days as “working days excluding MOM public holidays,” and say whether retail customers are measured on mall-open days instead — it prevents a surprising amount of argument.
Pitfalls that keep repeating
Sunday holidays usually move to Monday — National Day, Vesak and Deepavali all do in 2026.
Chinese New Year is not a full-company blackout; open malls are a poor proxy for offices.
Hari Raya and Deepavali dates move; refresh contract annexes yearly.
Do not assume Vesak aligns with Korea or Hong Kong.
An HQ holiday does not stop an overseas plant. Treat this page as a planning start; employment detail follows Singapore law and employer policy.
- Re-download the MOM list every year
- Sunday holidays usually move to Monday
- Chinese New Year is not a full-company blackout
- Plan logistics on the country where the cargo sits
- No all-hands launches in National Day week
- Treat early May–early June as a multi-market soft blackout
Cross-border planning notes
Singapore’s calendar is multicultural: Hari Raya, Deepavali, and Vesak move yearly. Some festivals overlap Malaysia, but National Day (9 August) does not. Chinese New Year remains a two-day focus for many teams.
Where these dates come from
Singapore dates follow the Ministry of Manpower gazette. A Sunday holiday is usually replaced by the following Monday.
Primary references for verification
Singapore FAQ
Are the dates fixed every year?
Secular dates and some Christian observances are relatively stable. Lunar, Islamic and Hindu dates move. Use the current MOM gazette. Reusing last year’s Hari Raya or Deepavali date in a contract is a classic error.
What if a holiday is on Sunday? Which 2026 examples matter?
The next weekday is usually in lieu. In 2026: National Day Sunday 9 August → Monday 10 August; Vesak Sunday 31 May → Monday 1 June; Deepavali Sunday 8 November → Monday 9 November.
Do malls close, and can I use them as a proxy for offices?
Most malls stay open. Some traditional shops pause for Chinese New Year. Malls measure retail and tourism, not CBD attendance. Orchard Road can be busy while banks and ministries are closed.
Why did Hari Raya move?
It follows the Islamic calendar and shifts about 10–12 days each Gregorian year. In 2026 Hari Raya Puasa is 21 March and Hari Raya Haji is 27 May. Confirm the MOM list.
Can I use the Malaysian calendar for Singapore?
No. Overlap exists; National Day and some in-lieu rules differ. JB–Singapore commuters need two rows, or someone will be asked to show up on the other country’s day off.
Does an HQ holiday stop the factory?
Not automatically. Plants follow the country where they sit. The classic Singapore–Vietnam–Indonesia error is reading only MOM.
Chinese New Year is only two days — why plan ahead?
Reachability among Chinese colleagues often thins before the gazetted days, and some extend with annual leave. The same week, mainland China and Vietnam may still be in longer shutdowns, so regional freight can freeze anyway.
Is National Day week good for a product launch?
Not if you need full attendance or government/bank windows. Bay-area traffic controls, higher hotel rates and the Monday in lieu create a three-day weekend that also scrambles client and press travel. Move the launch a week either side.
Do Changi and the port keep running on public holidays?
Core operations usually continue and passengers still move. What stops is bank counters, the exchange and most government windows. Transit feels normal; corporate account opening, settlement and regulatory filings must clear on the prior business day.
How do Malay, Chinese and Indian colleagues differ on leave impact?
Gazetted days are the base; annual-leave stacking creates the real gap. Hari Raya, lunar New Year and Deepavali hit different parts of a mixed team. Schedule launches against who you employ, not against a myth of a nationwide blackout — or of an always-on CBD.
Do all shops close?
Malls often stay open; smaller traditional shops may close.
Why does Hari Raya move?
It follows the Islamic calendar.
Same as Malaysia?
Some festivals overlap, but National Day and details differ.