The Netherlands has 13 main holidays. The Holidays in the Netherlands are:
| Date | English name | Dutch name | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|
| January 1 | New Year's Day | Nieuwjaar | The day before is called "Old Year's Day" and not "New Year's Eve." |
| March/April | Easter | Eerste Paasdag en Tweede Paasdag | The Dutch celebrate two days of Easter (on Sunday and the subsequent Monday). |
| April 30 | Queen's Day | Koninginnedag | Originally, Koninginnedag was celebrated on the birthday of the queen, Queen's day is nowadays celebrated on the birthday of the late Queen-mother (Juliana), as better weather is expected. If April 30 is a Sunday, Koninginnedag is celebrated on the April 29. |
| May 5 | Liberation Day | Bevrijdingsdag | Celebration of the 1945 capitulation of German forces in World War II. Celebrated every year, but as of 2000, an official holiday once every 5 years. |
| 40 days after Easter | Ascension Day | Hemelvaartsdag | |
| 7 weeks after Easter | Pentecost | Pinksteren | The Dutch celebrate two days of Pentecost (on Sunday and the subsequent Monday). |
| December 5 | Saint Nicholas' Eve | Sinterklaas | A predecessor of Santa Claus, Sinterklaas gives presents to the children. Not a national holiday |
| December 25, December 26 | Christmas | Kerstmis | The Dutch celebrate two days of Christmas: Eerste Kerstdag (the first day of Christmas) and Tweede Kerstdag (Boxing day). |
Even though Good Friday is a National Holiday, it is not a mandatory day off for commercial companies. However, most (semi-)governmental organizations, banks, and insurers honour this day with a day off work. If time off is given on this day, it is usually a mandatory day off work, subtracted from workers' holidays, whereas other national holidays do not count towards paid holiday allowance.
Liberation Day is a national holiday once every 5 years. Many employees have a day off work, but this is not required by law.
Time off is not given for Remembrance of the Dead, which is a national holiday, or Saint Nicholas' Eve, which is not a national holiday.
The government also recognizes the period between Christmas and New Year as "equivalent" to holidays for the purpose of filings/payments to or by the government; if a term ends on such a day, the term is extended. If either First or Second Christmas Day falls on a weekend (i.e., Saturday or Sunday), there is no additional weekday given in exchange. That is, in years where First Christmas Day is a Saturday, there are no national Christmas holidays at all.
Recently, there has been some debate over whether or not the Islamic holiday of Eid ul-Fitr (Suikerfeest in Dutch) should be a national holiday. This was met by opposition from political parties such as the PVV and SGP, although many others had no problems with it. For now, Eid ul-Fitr is not an official national holiday, but it usually justifies a day off for Islamic employees. Those opposed to this proposition say that there are enough national holidays as it is.
Famous quotes containing the words public and/or netherlands:
“People’s backyards are much more interesting than their front gardens, and houses that back on to railways are public benefactors.”
—Sir John Betjeman (1906–1984)
“Greece is a sort of American vassal; the Netherlands is the country of American bases that grow like tulip bulbs; Cuba is the main sugar plantation of the American monopolies; Turkey is prepared to kow-tow before any United States pro-consul and Canada is the boring second fiddle in the American symphony.”
—Andrei Andreyevich Gromyko (1909–1989)