The French enjoy 11 national jours feriés (holidays) annually. The civic calendar was first instituted in 1582; Bastille Day was incorporated in 1789, Armistice Day in 1918, Labor Day in 1935, and Victory Day in 1945. During the month of May, there is a holiday nearly every week, so be prepared for stores, banks and museums to shut their doors for days at a time. It is a good idea to call museums, restaurants and hotels in advance to make sure they will be open.

Trains and roads near major cities tend to get busy around the national holidays. Not coincidentally, this also happens to be the time when service unions (such as transporters, railroad workers, etc.) like to go on strike — something of a tradition, in fact. Travelers would do well to check ahead, particularly when planning a trip for the last week of June or first week of July!

There are also many regional festivals throughout France which are not included in our calendar. ViaFrance hosts an excellent site which lists fairs and festivals, traditional ceremonies, as well as sporting events, concerts, and trade shows for all regions throughout France.

Under the law, every French citizen is entitled to 5 weeks of vacation. Most of the natives take their summer vacations in July or August, and many major businesses are then closed. All of France takes to the roads, railroads, boats, and airways. Consequently, traveling in France during August is generally not recommended for foreigners.

Public Holidays

1 January	New Year's Day (Jour de l'an)
1 May	Labor Day (Fête du premier mai)
8 May	WWII Victory Day (Fête de la Victoire 1945; Fête du huitième mai)
14 July	Bastille Day (Fête nationale)
15 August	Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Assomption)
1 November	All Saints Day (La Toussaint)
11 November	Armistice Day (Jour d'armistice)
25 December	Christmas Day (Noël)
26 December	2nd Day of Christmas (in Alsace and Lorraine only)

Moveable Feasts

Religion: Christian (Western)

Feast	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009
Good Friday*	9 April	25 March	14 April	6 April	21 March	10 April
Easter (Pâques)	11 April	27 March	16 April	8 April	23 March	12 April
Easter Monday	12 April	28 March	17 April	9 April	24 March	13 April
Ascension (l'Ascencion)	20 May	5 May	25 May	17 May	1 May	21 May
Pentecost (la Pentecôte)	30 May	15 May	4 June	27 May	11 May	31 May
Whit Monday	31 May	16 May	5 June	28 May	12 May	1 June

*In Alsace and Lorraine only.

In years when Ascension Day concurs with Victory Day, we mark only the former, thus ignoring the latter.

Metal workers have the holiday of St. Eloi, July 24 (Festival of St. Eloi - French Basque).

Note that when a holiday happens to fall on a Tuesday or Thursday, many French workers may take the Monday or, respectively, Friday, off as well. This is not official and does not apply to institutions such as banks or government, but is sufficiently commonplace to cause difficulties doing business on occasion

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