Holidays in France in January

Wednesday 1 January - New Year’s Day

Tuesday 7 January - Distaff Day (medieval Europe); World Postage Stamp Day or Philatelist Day

Thursday 9 January - World Corsica Day

Monday 13 January - National Hypersensitivity Day in France (Journée nationale de l'hypersensibilité); Portfolio Day in January

Tuesday 14 January - Feast of the Ass

Saturday 18 January - World Snowman Day

Tuesday 21 January - Memorial Day of the Death of Louis XVI (the tradition of the French royalists in memory of the king guillotined in the Place de la Revolution. Events are also held in the atonement chapel in Paris and in the Basilica of Saint-Denis); European Day of Mediation

Wednesday 22 January - Franco-German Day

Friday 24 January - International Women's Sports Day (initiated by the French CSA Audiovisual High Council in 2014)

Tuesday 28 January - European Data Protection Day (initiated by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe)

Thursday 6 February - World No Mobile Phone Day

Friday 14 February - International Heart Awareness Day

Sunday 16 February - Commemoration of the fallen gendarmerie employees in France (anniversary of the adoption of the law of 1791 - the creation of the national gendarmerie)

Wednesday 19 February - Savoy National Festival, France (Savoy - a department in the east of France, one of the departments of the Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes region)

Thursday 20 February - World Pipe Day

Friday 21 February - Commemoration Day of the foreign participants of the French Resistance who died during the war (WWII)

Saturday 22 February - European Day for Equal Pay Men and Women

Tuesday 25 February - International Cochlear Implant Day

Saturday 1 March - Grandmother's Day in France (La fête des grands-mères is celebrated on the first Sunday in March)

Tuesday 4 March - International Day Against Sexual Exploitation

Wednesday 5 March - Tahiti Missionary Day in French Polynesia

Thursday 6 March - World Day of Prayer

Friday 7 March - BNP Paribas Day

Saturday 8 March - National French Onion Soup Day; National Hearing Day in France

Tuesday 11 March - European Day of Remembrance for the Victims of Terrorism (commemorating the terrorist attacks in Madrid on March 11, 2004, which killed 191 people)

Tuesday 18 March - Paris Commune Day in France (celebrated since February 20, 1872); La Madunuccia in Ajaccio, Corsica, France

Wednesday 19 March - National Day of Remembrance of Civil and Military Victims of the War in Algeria and the fighting in Tunisia and Morocco (France)

Thursday 20 March - UN French Language Day and International Francophonie Day (Organisation internationale de la Francophonie); International Macaroon Day (macaroon is a French confectionery made from egg whites, sugar and ground almonds. Usually made in the form of cookies; put cream or jam between two layers)

Friday 21 March - World Office Storage Day

Tuesday 1 April - Poisson d'avril (France, Switzerland, French Community of Belgium)

Thursday 3 April - World Party Day; International Aircraft Carrier Day

Tuesday 8 April - AXA Day (AXA Group)

Monday 14 April - Portfolio Day in April

Thursday 17 April - Malbec World Day (Malbec is a purple grape variety used in making red wine. MWD is celebrated to commemorate the day when president Domingo Faustino Sarmiento of Argentina officially made it his mission to transform Argentina's wine industry. On that day, back in 1853, he tasked Michel Aimé Pouget, a French soil expert, to bring over new vines)

Friday 18 April - International Jugglers' Day; Good Friday

Sunday 20 April - Easter

Thursday 24 April - Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day

Friday 25 April - International Sculpture Day (Held on the last Saturday of April)

Wednesday 30 April - Holiday of the Foreign Legion in France (date in memory of the Battle of Cameron)

Thursday 1 May - Lily of the Valley Day in France; No Pants Day (It is held on the first Friday in May); May Crownings or the Virgin Mary Month (Catholic Church tradition); International Workers’ Day (May Day)

Saturday 3 May - Poetry Festival in Toulouse, France (poetry contest of the Academy of Floraly, Toulouse organizer of poetry competitions for prizes of flowers held annually in the city, starting from the XIV century)

Thursday 8 May - Victory Day in Poland and Czech (Narodowy Dzień Zwycięstwa in Poland established in 2015; Liberation Day in Czech Republic); Johannian Holidays in Orleans, France (in honor of the liberation in 1429 of Joan of Arc and her army from the city besieged by the British)

Friday 9 May - Europe Day (is the name of two annual observance days, 5 May by the Council of Europe and 9 May by the European Union, which recognize the peace and prosperity within Europe that both have achieved since their formation); World Fair Trade Day (celebrated on the second Saturday of May)

Saturday 10 May - The day of the abolition of slavery in France (Abolition de l'esclavage mark according to the law of May 21, 2001)

Sunday 11 May - Mamertus, the first of the Ice Saints

Wednesday 14 May - Christ's Ascension (or Kristi Himmelfartsdag in Norway)

Friday 16 May - Bread Festival in France

Monday 19 May - St. Yves of Kermartensky Day in Brittany, France (Ivo Helori or Ivo Bretonsky was born on October 17, 1253, died May 19, 1303. In the Roman Catholic Church, he is considered a saint, and is traditionally considered the patron saint of lawyers, notaries and lawyers)

Tuesday 20 May - International HR Day

Wednesday 21 May - European Natura 2000 Day

Thursday 22 May - Abolition Day in Martinique

Saturday 24 May - Pilgrimage to Sainte Marie de la Mer in France

Sunday 25 May - Whit Monday (celebrated on the day after Pentecost)

Tuesday 27 May - Slavery Abolition Day (Guadeloupe, Saint Barthélemy, Saint Martin); National Resistance Day in France (on the occasion of the anniversary of the first meeting of the National Council of Resistance)

Thursday 29 May - Ascension of Jesus

Friday 30 May - Game Festival in France (designed to promote cooperative and non-violent games)

Saturday 31 May - Mother's Day in France (also Algeria, Dominican Republic. First Sunday of June, if Pentecost occurs on this day, Haiti, Mauritius, Morocco, Sweden, Tunisia; celebrated on the last Sunday in May); European Siblings' Day

Sunday 1 June - World Responsible Tourism Day (Celebrated since 2012 on the first working day of June); LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton Day

Monday 2 June - International Sex Workers Day (In 1975, on 2nd June, about 100 sex workers occupied Saint-Nizier Church in Lyon, France, to express their anger about their criminalised and exploitative living conditions. On 10th June at 5 o'clock the Church was brutally raided and cleared by police forces. This action sparked a national movement, and the day is now celebrated in Europe and around the world)

Saturday 7 June - World Naturist Day (Starts on the first Sunday of June in the northern hemisphere and on the first Sunday of December in the southern hemisphere)

Sunday 8 June - National Day of Remembrance of the Fallen for France in Indochina in France (journée nationale d'hommage aux «morts pour la France» en Indochine)

Tuesday 10 June - Abolition Day (French Guiana)

Wednesday 18 June - Call for Resistance in France (in honor of the call for resistance made by General de Gaulle on the radio from London in 1940)

Friday 20 June - World Juggling Day (It will be held on the Saturday closest to June 17)

Saturday 21 June - Music Festival in France; Father's Day (Ñelebrated on the third Sunday of June øò Argentina, Aruba, Canada, Costa Rica, France, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Ireland, Kenya, Japan, Macao, Malaysia, Malta, Mexico, Netherlands, Pakistan, Peru, Puerto Rico, Singapore, Slovakia, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Trinidad and Tobago, Turkey, Venezuela, United Kingdom); Make Music Day (Launched in 1982 in France as the Fête de la Musique, it is now held on the same day in more than 1,000 cities in 120 countries); Summer Solstice (International Day of the Celebration of the Solstice)

Sunday 22 June - National Day for Reflection on Organ Donation and Organ Transplantation in France; International Volkswagen Beetle Day

Tuesday 24 June - International Day of Women in Diplomacy

Wednesday 25 June - World Anti-Bullfighting Day

Friday 27 June - World Day against the abandonment of domestic animals (Held on the last Saturday of June)

Sunday 29 June - Independence Day in French Polynesia (anniversary of the transfer of full sovereignty over all territories depending on the crown of Tahiti to France, by King Pomar V in 1880)

Tuesday 1 July - World Day of the White Band Against Poverty (as a reminder of the Millennium Goals signed in 2010)

Thursday 3 July - World No Plastic Bags Day

Monday 7 July - International Cocoa Day

Monday 14 July - Portfolio Day in July; Bastille Day

Wednesday 16 July - Holocaust Memorial Day in France

Friday 18 July - St. Arnulf’s Day in France (Arnulf was the Frankish bishop of Metz and lived in about 582-640 years. Three legends are associated with him: about the ring that returned to him, about the fire that receded from him and about the beer that was given to him, to quench the thirst of pilgrims)

Friday 1 August - Breton National Day in France

Sunday 3 August - Stephen (Discovery of the relic. Christian feast day)

Friday 15 August - Acadia National Festival; Feast day of the Assumption of Mary (Christian feast day, one of the Catholic holy days of obligation a public holiday in Austria, Belgium, Benin, Bosnia, Burundi, Cameroon, Chile, Colombia, Croatia, Cyprus, France, Germany, Greece, Guatemala, Hungary, Italy, Ivory Coast, Lebanon, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Madagascar, Malta, Mauritius, Monaco, Paraguay, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Senegal, Seychelles, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland, Togo, and Vanuatu); Twins Day in Pleucadeuc (Morbihan, France. Deux et plus)

Saturday 16 August - Xicolatada (Palau-de-Cerdagne, France); World Kite Day

Wednesday 20 August - Sanofi S.A. Day (We are an innovative global healthcare company, driven by one purpose: we chase the miracles of science to improve people’s lives)

Monday 25 August - France Liberation Day

Saturday 6 September - Apple Slipper Day in Saint Calais, France (Celebrated on the first Sunday of September)

Monday 8 September - A Santa di Niolu in Casamaccioli (Corsica, France)

Thursday 11 September - World Day Against Terrorism

Friday 12 September - World Headache Day (A Day of Awareness and Support)

Tuesday 16 September - European Mobility Week

Friday 19 September - Public Transport Day in France; European Heritage Days in France

Monday 22 September - French Republican New Year (the first day "Grape" in the Month of Vendémiaire. The first day of Miķeļi in ancient Latvia); International Mime Day; Autumnal Equinox Day

Tuesday 23 September - Day of Combating the Non-Completion of Secondary School Children; Gastronomy Day in France

Wednesday 24 September - New Caledonia Day (national holiday of the overseas territory of France, located on dozens of islands in the South Pacific)

Thursday 25 September - Day of National Recognition for the Harkis in France; European Researchers' Night

Friday 3 October - Musketeer Day in France (unofficial holiday)

Tuesday 7 October - World Day of Action for Decent Work

Monday 13 October - Portfolio Day in October

Wednesday 15 October - Tiger Day; Memorial Day for the loss of a child during pregnancy or a newborn (noted in Ohio, USA, Canada, France, Britain and Italy)

Thursday 16 October - France Reading Day

Friday 17 October - World Day for Organ Donation and Transplantation

Tuesday 21 October - International Day of Culture for Concord and Peace (organized by Aljabart Charitable Foundation)

Wednesday 22 October - National Day of Remembrance of Guy Moke and his 26 comrades in France (Guy Moke was a young French Communist. During the German occupation of France, World War II, in response to the attacks of the French Resistance against the Germans, he was taken hostage by the Nazis and executed)

Sunday 26 October - Daylight saving time (autumn)

Monday 27 October - World Occupational Therapy Day

Tuesday 28 October - International Day of Creole Language and Culture

Saturday 1 November - All Saints' Day a holy day of obligation (a national holiday in many historically Catholic countries. And its related observance: Day of the Innocents, The first day of Day of the Dead or El Dia de los Muertos celebration. - Mexico, Haiti)

Friday 7 November - National Day in Northern Catalonia, France (after Treaty of the Pyrenees)

Monday 10 November - Saint Martin's Day in France

Tuesday 11 November - Armistice Day (New Zealand, France, Belgium and Serbia. End of World War I-related observances)

Thursday 13 November - Memorial Day of Abbon from Fleury (he was a monk of the Benedictine order, an abbot of the Fleury monastery in France, a prominent church and political figure, a supporter of the Kluni reform, a scholar and encyclopedist of the X century)

Saturday 15 November - European Dystonia Day

Thursday 20 November - Universal Children’s Day

Saturday 22 November - Musician's Day

Monday 24 November - World Red Wine Day

Tuesday 2 December - World Futures Day

Friday 5 December - National Memorial Day in France (in memory of those killed during the war in Algeria, the battles in Morocco and Tunisia)

Sunday 7 December - Baroque Pride Day

Monday 8 December - World Climate Day (initiated by several environmental associations of France and Belgium); Festival of Lights in Lyon, France (takes place on the night of December 8-11); Corsican National Holiday (Festa di a Nazione)

Tuesday 9 December - Laity Day in France (established on the initiative of L'Observatoire de la laïcité - French advisory committee tasked with assisting the government in upholding and promoting the principle of secularism); International Day for Secularism and Freedom of Conscience

Saturday 13 December - Acadia Memorial Day (dedicated to the tragic event during the deportation of the Acadians, the ships of the Duke of William, Ruby and Violet, sunk in 1758); Mass for the prosperity of France (conducted by Cardinal Vicar in the Basilica of St. John of Lateran)

Sunday 21 December - World Orgasm Day (Celebrate the day of the winter solstice); Winter Solstice Day

Wednesday 24 December - Christmas Eve

Thursday 25 December - Christmas Day

Friday 26 December - St. Stephen's Day (public holiday in Alsace, Austria, Andorra, Catalonia, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Germany, Hong Kong, Italy, Ireland, Luxembourg, Poland, Slovakia and Switzerland)

Sunday 28 December - Innocent Saints Day

Wednesday 31 December - New Year’s Eve