Public Holidays in the Netherlands 2025 / 2026

Looking for the Dutch holiday schedule? Here is a listing of national holidays in the Netherlands for 2025 and 2026. Officially these are non-working days for many people but this is not set in law – it actually depends on employer policy.

We also list the official school holidays in 2025 and 2026 as advised by the Netherlands Government.

Dutch public holidays 2025

* King’s Day is normally observed on 27 April. As this falls on a Sunday in 2025 then King’s Day is held a day earlier.

Dutch public holidays 2026

The Dutch holiday calendar is quite distinctive in that outside of the Christmas/New Year period most of the holidays cluster around spring – Easter time and May.

Unlike many countries in Europe, there are no Dutch public holidays in the summer – this means a very long gap of work-free days between late spring until Christmas!

You will note that the Dutch name some of their multi-day holidays as first (eerste) and second (tweede) days.

So Christmas Day is known as Eerste kerstdag or ‘First Christmas Day’ and Boxing Day is called Tweede kerstdag or ‘Second Christmas Day’. This also applies to Easter and Whitsun as well.

There is no law which requires that employers give their staff statutory days off on official public holidays. However most will grant the holidays via employment contracts or through collective labour agreements (CAOs).

Dutch holiday/festive calendar

The Dutch holiday calendar is based mainly on traditional Christian holidays. Here is a brief overview of each holiday:

New Year’s Day

Held on 1st January, this holiday marks the beginning of the new year from the Gregorian calendar. It is celebrated in the Netherlands with parties and fireworks.

Easter

This is Christian holiday observed over 4 days, typically in March or April. It commemorates the resurrection of Jesus Christ and is celebrated by religious services and family gatherings. Note that not everyone has Easter Friday off.

Liberation Day

Observed on 5th May, this commemorates the liberation of the Netherlands from Nazi occupation at the end of World War 2, marking the country’s freedom. You can find out a lot more by visiting the Dutch Resistance (Verzets) museum in Amsterdam.

Liberation Day is only an official holiday once every 5 years and will be held in 2025 (following that in 2030).

On 4th May is the annual Remembrance Day (not a public holiday) which always includes a 2 minute silence at 20:00. In Amsterdam there is an annual service at the National War Memorial on Dam Square.

Ascension Day

A Christian holiday falling 40 days after Easter, marking the day Jesus Christ ascended to heaven. It always falls on a Thursday. It is traditionally celebrated by some at church services and taking an early morning walk in the dew (Dauwtrappen).

Whitsun / Pentecost

Another late spring Christian holiday occurring 50 days after Easter, this commemorate the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the apostles. Whit Monday is always a public holiday.

Christmas

Christmas marks the winter holiday season to commemorate the birth of Jesus. It is celebrated as a public holiday on 25th-26th December.

Note, Sinterklaas is a Dutch variation marking St Nicholas Day. It is observed on 5th December each year but is not an official Dutch public holiday.

Dutch school holidays

Dutch primary and secondary school holidays are staggered by 3 main regions – North (Noord), Central (Midden) and South (Zuid) of the Netherlands. Amsterdam falls into the Noord region.

The dates are staggered to stop the entire country travelling away on holiday at the same time!

The main holiday is the Zomervakantie (summer holidays) which will be around 6 weeks in July and August.

There are 2 week holidays for both Christmas (Kerstvakantie) and the May period (Meivakantie) – which aligns with many of the May public holidays.

Finally there are ‘half-term’ holidays in spring (Voorjaarsvakantie) and autumn (Herfstvakantie) which are 1 week – however a limited number of schools will give 2 weeks off.

Prices for travel and accommodation do spike for the school holidays so it makes sense to plan your holidays well in advance.

Let’s take a look at the official advisory school holidays in 2025 and 2026 by region, though always confirm with your child’s school as there may be some variation.

Sources: Government of the Netherlands, Time and Date AS

This article was originally published on 6 February 2025.

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