Workers in Finland can look forward to taking ten days off work in 2025 due to how public holidays fall in the calendar.
The only public holiday that occurs on a weekend next year is Independence Day, as 6 December falls on a Saturday in 2025.
In Finland, the number of public holidays workers get in a year depends on whether they fall on weekdays or over weekends. There are a total of 11 days in the Finnish holiday calendar which could fall on a weekday, but usually between one and four of them happen on weekends.
This means that the maximum number of public holidays that can occur on a weekday is ten, which is the case this year — and due to occur again next year.
"Due to the weekly distribution of our calendar, the 11 possible weekday holidays can never all fall on a weekday in the same year," Asko Palviainen of Helsinki University's Almanac Office explained.
The list of public holidays that could potentially fall on a weekday in any given year include New Year's Day (1 January), Epiphany (6 January), Good Friday and Easter Monday (varies by year), Ascension Thursday (40 days after Easter), May Day (1 May), Midsummer Eve (Friday before summer solstice), Independence Day (6 December), Christmas Eve (24 December), Christmas Day (25 December) and St Stephen's Day (26 December).
There will be nine weekday public holidays in 2026, eight in 2027 and nine again in 2028.
Next year begins with short working weeks
The distribution of next year's public holidays means that workers will kick off 2025 with two four-day working weeks in succession.
The first of the year's public holidays, New Year's Day, falls on Wednesday 1 January while the second, Epiphany, is on Monday 6 January.
The next round of public holidays come in April, with Good Friday on 18 April and Easter Monday on 21 April, followed by two public holidays in May: May Day on the first of the month and Ascension Thursday on the 29th.
Midsummer Eve will be celebrated on 20 June, while the three public holidays around Christmas — Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and St Stephen's Day — fall on a Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.
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