Type

The type of rule that the holiday follows. Is it fixed (the same date every year) ? Is it based on Easter ? Is it based on another calendar such as the Chinese calendar ? If you do not know what is the type of recurrence followed by a holiday, make sure you use the Holiday Rule Wizard.

Observance

Additionally, from the type recurrence options tab, you can specify the Observance of a holiday rule (for example, is it regional, religious, starts the evening before, ...).

Weekdays

Are there any special cases depending on the weekday on which the holiday occurs ? For example, if the holiday falls on a Sunday, should it be moved to the next Monday ?

Offset

Should a number of days (or weekdays) be added to the rules specified by the 2 options above. This is useful for holidays that last more than 1 day and which have a different name on each day (for example Hannukah). This is also useful for holidays that follow another holiday, such as Boxing Day and Christmas.

Duration

How many days does the holiday last ? This is often used for holidays of the Muslim and Chinese calendars.

Conflicts

Should something be done if a holiday occurs on the same date as another holiday ? This is used in a few special cases such as Mother's Day in France, but mainly to specify the behavior of days in lieu (additional holidays that are given if a holiday occurs on a weekend).

Validity

Are there any limits on the validity of the rules specified by the above options ? For example, Japan changed the way its holidays are calculated in 1999, so you may have a set of Japanese holidays with validity up to 1999, and another set of Japanese holidays with validity starting in 2000.

Additionally, there may be years when the rule for a holiday does not occur because of another special event. For example, in 2002, in the UK, the 50th anniversary of the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II replaced the Spring Bank holiday. In that case an exception to the Spring Bank holiday was specified, meaning that the rule applied every year except in 2002.