Public holidays Belgium

The legal holidays in Belgium are:

  • new year January 1
  • Easter at the end of March
  • Easter Monday
  • Labor Day May 1
  • Ascension Day May 13
  • Pentecost May 23
  • Pentecost Monday May 24
  • festival of the Flemish Community July 11
  • national holiday July 21
  • Our Lady Assumption 15 August
  • Feast of the French Community September 27
  • All Saints’ Day/All Souls’ Day in early November
  • armistice November 11
  • Feast of the Dynasty, November 15
  • German Community Holiday Friday, November 15, 2024
  • Christmas December 25
  • In some industries in Belgium or for some categories of employees, a public holiday may be replaced by another day. This is, for example, the case in the steel industry, where the 11th of November is replaced by the holiday of “Sint-Eloi” on December 1.

Extra-legal holidays can be added in Belgium, for a business sector, or for a specific company. This applies, for example, to companies that assemble bridges and metal trusses where an extra public holiday is granted on the occasion of the Community Feast.

What if a public holiday coincides with a Sunday or a normal inactivity day?

In order to guarantee the employee in Belgium a fixed number of public holidays, the law in Belgium states that if a public holiday coincides with a Sunday or a normal day of inactivity in the company, it must be replaced. This “replacement day” must be determined on a normal activity day in the company. This replacement day acquires the status of a public holiday for the employees in the company.

Other special dates in Belgium

In addition to the legal holidays in Belgium, there are the following special dates that you should take into account:

  • Epiphany, January 6
  • Carnival Sunday, February 11, February 13
  • Valentine, February 14
  • Father’s Day (Antwerp), March 19
  • Daylight saving time, March 31
  • Secretary’s Day, April 18
  • Mother’s Day, May 12
  • Father’s Day, June 9
  • Mother’s Day (Antwerp), August 15
  • French Community holiday, September 27
  • Winter hour, October 27
  • Halloween, October 31
  • Sint Maarten, November 11
  • Black Friday, November 29
  • Sinterklaas, December 6
  • New Year’s Eve, December 31