Public holidays in the Netherlands
| Life in the Netherlands |
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Government
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The Netherlands has 13 main holidays. The Holidays in the Netherlands are:
| Date | English name | Dutch name | Remarks |
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| 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 27 | King's Day | Koningsdag | Celebration of the birthday of king Willem-Alexander. |
| May 5 | Liberation Day | Bevrijdingsdag | Celebration of the 1945 capitulation of German forces in World War II. |
| 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). |
| Last Saturday in June | Veterans Day. | Nederlandse Veteranendag | Celebrated for the first time on 29 June 2005, the birthday of Prince Bernard. Enforced in 2006 by the Ministry of Defence as national event to honour the Dutch Veterans for their work worldwide for maintaining peace, safety and freedom. |
| December 5 | Saint Nicholas' Eve | Pakjesavond, Sinterklaasavond | Not a national holiday A predecessor of Santa Claus, Sinterklaas gives presents to the children. While Saint Nicholas' name day is on December 6, in the Netherlands usually only Saint Nicholas' Eve is celebrated on December 5.[1] |
| 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.
After the liberation in 1945, Liberation Day was commemorated every 5 years. In 1990 the day was declared a national holiday, where the liberation is commemorated and celebrated every year. Many employees have a day off work, but this is not required by law.[2]
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;[clarification needed] if a term ends on such a day, the term is extended.[clarification needed] 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[who?] 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.[3]
See also [edit]
References [edit]
External links [edit]
- CIA. Netherlands. 10 Jan. 2006. 10 Feb. 2006. <https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/print/nl.html>
- Rijksoverheid (Dutch government) http://www.rijksoverheid.nl/onderwerpen/schoolvakanties/vraag-en-antwoord/welke-feestdagen-kent-nederland-en-wanneer-worden-ze-gevierd.html
- Calendar - Holiday Files http://www.mozilla.org/projects/calendar/holidays.html#N
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