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Public Holidays and Bank Holidays for Switzerland

The list of Switzerland bank holidays, national holidays and public holidays for 2009, comes from the Q++ Worldwide Public Holidays Database, the professional source of international public holidays long trusted by the world's foremost diary publishers. The information on this page is provided for private, non-professional, use. Qualified professionals can license data for 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, and beyond. For details, please visit our licensing information page or

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27 Aug 2009 (kipa + apic-Freiburg) The business council of Switzerland's Canton of Solothurn (Office cantonal des arts et métiers-KGV) has petitioned the region's government to allow stores to open on 3 of the region's specific religious public holidays. • 26 Mar 2009 (Le Matin-Lausanne) Switzerland's State Council has decided that, starting in 2010, the Canton of Neuchâtel would observe the May 1st, Labour Day public holiday, currently observed by 9 of Switzerland's 26 Cantons. • 28 Jan 2009 (Tages Anzeiger-Zürich) The Consultative Commission (Kommission des Kantonsrates) of Switzerland's Zürich Canton has rejected an SVP motion to cancel the May 1st public holiday and replace it with a "joker" holiday to be chosen from a shortlist of other possible commemorative dates. • 13 Jan 2008 (Tages Anzeiger-Zürich) The leader of the SVP parliamentary group, Alfred Heer, has steered a bill through that would remove May 1st from the list of public holidays in the Canton of Zürich. • 24 May 2007 (Le Temps) The Commission du Grütli announced, earlier today that, in 2007, there would be no celebration of Switzerland's National Day public holiday on the legendary Plaine du Grütli. • 21 Feb 2007 (AZ Online) After protests from its Catholic regions, the government of the Canton of Aargau, has reversed itself on an earlier plan to stop observing the following public holidays: Fronleichnam, All Saints, Assumption und Immaculate Conception, as of January 1, 2008. • 07 Feb 2007 (20 Minutes) The Grand Conseil has voted that the Canton of Vaud will hold a referendum as to whether January 2 and Whit Monday are to be added to the list of official cantonal public holidays (currently these 2 days are often taken, unofficially, as public holidays). • 12 Nov 2001 (Die Bundesversammlung-Das Schweizer Parlament) On November 6, Switzerland's competent parliamentary commission voted against the proposal to make May 1st a nationwide public holiday. • 11 May 2001 (Die Bundesversammlung-Das Schweizer Parlament) Parliamentarian Anita Fetz has submitted bill 01.423, Nationaler Feiertag der Arbeit am 1. Mai, that would make May 1st a national public holiday throughout Switzerland. • More News Updates For the full version of the summarized news items above, and older news items not displayed above, go to the Switzerland public holidays news and updates page, or worldwide public holidays news and updates page, or subscribe to one of our free email newsletters.

In addition to national public holidays, there are also religious and local public holidays. Public holidays vary from canton to canton; even some cities have their own. • (in September) Entire Switzerland, but the date is different in GE. • All Saints' Day: (November 1) Catholic regions: AG (partly), AI, FR (partly), GL, GR (partly), JU, LU, NW, OW, SG, SO, SZ, TI, UR, VS, ZG. • Immaculate Conception Day: (December 8) Catholic regions: AG (partly), AI, FR (partly), GR (partly), LU, NW, OW, SO (partly), SZ, TI, UR, VS, ZG. • Saint Stephen's Day: Entire Switzerland except GE, JU, NE, VD, VS. • New Year's Eve: (December 31) Only GE. • Swiss Canton Abbreviations: AG: Aargau AI: Appenzell Innerrhoden AR: Appenzell Ausserrhoden BS: Basel-Stadt BL: Basel-Landschaft BE: Bern FR: Fribourg GE: Geneva GL: Glarus GR: Graubünden JU: Jura LU: Lucerne NE: Neuchâtel NW: Nidwalden OW: Obwalden SH: Schaffhausen SZ: Schwyz SO: Solothurn SG: St. Gallen TG: Thurgau TI: Ticino UR: Uri VS: Valais VD: Vaud ZG: Zug ZH: Zürich. • Switzerland International Codes CH and CHE (2 and 3-letter ISO3166 codes) and .ch (ICANN national top-level internet domain). • Other Sources of Information The following specialized websites are also a good source of Switzerland information and news: Swiss National Bank (Switzerland central bank), ASI Hot Spots (security-related world events: terrorist threats, political strife, strikes, criminal activity, aviation incidents and health outbreaks), CIA World Factbook (Switzerland maps, demographics and economic statistics), the IFES (information covering upcoming elections, referenda, electoral structures and voter participation in Switzerland), and Wikipedia (includes Switzerland commemorative dates that are not necessarily public holidays).

Observance : Any entry in the Observance column indicates that, in Switzerland, the holiday may be regional or non-official or limited to certain religious and/or linguistic groups, or begin at a time other than midnight. Note that religious holidays are included only if they are national public holidays, or if the national labour code has specific holiday allowances for employees of specific religions. For more information, see our pages on the religious calendars of the world.

Disclaimer
In many parts of the world, holidays are subject to arbitrary, last minute, changes by local authorities. While every effort has been made to present an accurate list of 2009 bank holidays, legal holidays and public holidays for Switzerland, we cannot accept any responsibility for any error or omission in the data presented above. You are therefore advised to verify the above dates with the embassy or consulate of Switzerland, before planning any trip to Switzerland. For last-minute updates to worldwide public holidays, visit our blog or subscribe to our free email newsletters.