Public holidays in Bulgaria, 2026
Bulgaria observes 15 nationwide public holidays in 2026. After weekends and those holidays are removed, the working year comes to 249 days.
Every public holiday in 2026
| Date | Day | Holiday | Scope |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thu, 1 Jan | Thursday | New Year's Day Нова година |
Nationwide |
| Fri, 2 Jan | Friday | Currency change day Ден на валутната смяна |
Nationwide |
| Tue, 3 Mar | Tuesday | Liberation Day Ден на oсвобождението на България от Oсманско робство |
Nationwide |
| Fri, 10 Apr | Friday | Good Friday Разпети петък |
Nationwide |
| Sat, 11 Apr | Saturday Weekend | Holy Saturday Велика събота |
Nationwide |
| Sun, 12 Apr | Sunday Weekend | Easter Sunday Великден |
Nationwide |
| Mon, 13 Apr | Monday | Easter Monday Велики понеделник |
Nationwide |
| Fri, 1 May | Friday | International Workers' Day Ден на труда и на международната работническа солидарност |
Nationwide |
| Wed, 6 May | Wednesday | Saint George's Day Гергьовден, ден на храбростта и Българската армия |
Nationwide |
| Mon, 25 May | Monday | Saints Cyril and Methodius Day Ден на Българската просвета и култура и на славянската писменост |
Nationwide |
| Mon, 7 Sep | Monday | Unification Day Ден на съединението |
Nationwide |
| Tue, 22 Sep | Tuesday | Independence Day Ден на независимостта на България |
Nationwide |
| Thu, 24 Dec | Thursday | Christmas Eve Бъдни вечер |
Nationwide |
| Fri, 25 Dec | Friday | Christmas Day Рождество Христово |
Nationwide |
| Sat, 26 Dec | Saturday Weekend | Second day of Christmas Рождество Христово |
Nationwide |
Working days month by month
| Month | Calendar days | Weekend | Holidays | Working days | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 31 | 9 | 2 | 20 | 160 |
| February | 28 | 8 | 0 | 20 | 160 |
| March | 31 | 9 | 1 | 21 | 168 |
| April | 30 | 8 | 2 | 20 | 160 |
| May | 31 | 10 | 3 | 18 | 144 |
| June | 30 | 8 | 0 | 22 | 176 |
| July | 31 | 8 | 0 | 23 | 184 |
| August | 31 | 10 | 0 | 21 | 168 |
| September | 30 | 8 | 2 | 20 | 160 |
| October | 31 | 9 | 0 | 22 | 176 |
| November | 30 | 9 | 0 | 21 | 168 |
| December | 31 | 8 | 2 | 21 | 168 |
| Year | 365 | 104 | 12 | 249 | 1,992 |
Reading these figures
The working day count treats Saturday and Sunday as the weekend, which is the standard working week in Bulgaria. Only nationwide holidays are deducted; a date observed in one region alone still counts as a working day here, because a national figure that moved with regional calendars would describe nobody accurately.
3 of this year's public holidays fall on a weekend and therefore add no time away from work: Holy Saturday (11 Apr), Easter Sunday (12 Apr), Second day of Christmas (26 Dec). Whether these are compensated with a substitute day depends on national rules rather than on the calendar, so confirm before planning around them.
The longest working month is July at 23 days; the shortest is May at 18. That spread of 5 days matters for anything billed or accrued monthly, which is why payroll and capacity plans that assume an even year drift by the end of it. The thinnest quarter is Q2, carrying 60 working days across April, May, June.
Compared with 2025, which held 248 working days, 2026 is 1 working day longer. Where a target is carried over from one year to the next unchanged, that difference is absorbed silently unless someone accounts for it.
Against the 204 countries covered here for 2026, Bulgaria's 15 nationwide holidays put it above the median of 12, around the 82nd percentile. The range across all countries this year runs from 3 to 49.
The holidays produce 6 breaks of three consecutive non-working days or more. The longest runs 4 days, from 1 January 2026 to 4 January 2026, built around New Year's Day and Currency change day. A further 2 working days are stranded between a holiday and a weekend, where one day of leave buys a break of four days or more. The full breakdown is here.
7 of this year's holidays sit on a different calendar date than in 2025: Currency change day, Good Friday, Holy Saturday, Easter Sunday, Easter Monday, Saints Cyril and Methodius Day and others. Dates that move cannot be carried forward from last year's planning spreadsheet, which is the most common way a holiday is missed.