Public holidays in Slovenia

There are two kinds of public holidays in Slovenia - state holidays and work-free days. State holidays are those celebrated by the state. These include official functions and flying the national flag. The latter are actually Catholic religious holidays, which are equivalent to any Sunday: companies and schools are closed, but there is no official celebration.

There are 12 state holidays and additional 4 work-free days in Slovenia.^[1] Two of them always fall on Sunday, thus, there are effectively at most 14 days of work-free days in Slovenia. From 1955 until May 2012, when the National Assembly of Slovenia passed the Public Finance Balance Act, 2 January was a work-free day too, thus there were effectively 15 work-free days.^[2]

State holidays that are work-free are shown in pale green, while work-free days that are not state holidays (coinciding with Catholic religious holidays) are shown in dark green. Not work-free holidays are shown in white. Altogether, there are 14 work-free days in Slovenia.

Date	English name	Slovene name	Remarks
1 January	New Year	novo leto	State holiday, work-free.[2][3]
8 February	Prešeren Day, the Slovenian Cultural Holiday	Prešernov dan, slovenski kulturni praznik	State holiday, work-free. Anniversary of the death of Slovenian poet France Prešeren, established as the national cultural day in 1944, work-free since 1991.[4]
-	Easter Sunday and Monday	velikonočna nedelja in ponedeljek, velika noč	Work-free days, in March or April (date varies).
27 April	Day of Uprising Against Occupation	dan upora proti okupatorju	State holiday, work-free. Formerly Liberation Front Day (dan Osvobodilne fronte), marks the establishment in 1941 of the Anti-Imperialist Front to fight "imperialists", later renamed the Liberation Front to fight the German, Italian, Hungarian, and Croatian partition and annexation of Slovenia.
1 May – 2 May	May Day Holiday	praznik dela	State holiday, work-free from 1949.[3]
-	Whit Sunday	binkoštna nedelja, binkošti	Work-free day (it is always on Sunday), in May or June, fifty days after the Easter (date varies).
8 June	Primož Trubar Day	dan Primoža Trubarja	State holiday, not work-free. Established in 2010.[5]
25 June	Statehood Day	dan državnosti	State holiday, work-free. Commemorates the act of independence in 1991.
15 August	Assumption Day	Marijino vnebovzetje (veliki šmaren)	Work-free day since 1992.[6]
17 August	Day of Slovenes in Prekmurje Incorporated into the Mother Nation	združitev prekmurskih Slovencev z matičnim narodom	State holiday since 2006, not work-free.[7]
15 September	Day of Restoration of the Littoral Region to the Motherland	vrnitev Primorske k matični domovini	State holiday since 2005, not work-free.[8]
25 October	Sovereignty Day	dan suverenosti	State holiday since 2015, not work-free.[9]
31 October	Reformation Day	dan reformacije	State holiday since 1992, work-free day.[10]
1 November	Day (of Remembrance) of the Dead	dan spomina na mrtve or dan mrtvih	State holiday, work-free. Before 1991, in the time of the Socialist Republic of Slovenia, it was named dan mrtvih ('day of the dead').[11]
23 November	Rudolf Maister Day	dan Rudolfa Maistra	State holiday since 2005, not work-free.[12]
25 December	Christmas	božič	Work-free day. Abolished in 1953 and re-instituted in 1991.[3]
26 December	Independence and Unity Day	dan samostojnosti in enotnosti	State holiday, work free. Commemorates the proclamation of the independence plebiscite results in 1990.

In addition to these, several other holidays are traditionally and popularly celebrated by the people of Slovenia, although not being work-free. The best known are:

• Carnival (pust, date varies),
• International Women's Day, 8 March
• St. George's Day (jurjevanje, the welcoming of spring; 23 April),
• St. Martin's day (martinovanje, changing of must into wine; 11 November) and
• Saint Nicholas Day (miklavž, when children receive presents; 6 December).
• Insurrection Day (dan vstaje, 22 July, work-free until 1991)

References

1. "Letos nam bodo prazniki podarili osem prostih dni" [This Year Holidays Will Grant Us Eight Free Days]. MMC RTV Slovenija (in Slovenian) (RTV Slovenija). 2 January 2011.
2. "DZ sprejel varčevalne ukrepe" [The National Assembly Passes Austerity Measures]. Krizno ogledalo (in Slovenian) (Slovenian Press Agency). 12 May 2012.
3. "Odprava praznikov je poseg v socialne pravice" [The Abolishment of Holidays is an Intervention into Social Rights]. Dnevnik.si (in Slovenian). 30 April 2012.
4. Naglič, Miha (3 February 2008). "Prešernov dan" [Prešeren Day]. Gorenjski glas (in Slovenian) (GG Plus).
5. [newsletter=63 "Slovenia Gets Primoz Trubar Day (8 June)"]. Government Communication Office, Republic of Slovenia. 18 June 2010.
6. "Za ene veliki šmaren, za druge prost dan" [The Assumption Day for Ones, the Free Day for Others]. Slovenske novice (in Slovenian). 14 August 2011.
7. "Praznik združitve prekmurskih Slovencev z matico" [The Holiday of the Incorporation of the Slovenes into the Mother Nation] (in Slovenian). 17 August 2009.
8. "Primorska bo praznovala v Renčah" [The Littoral Will Celebrate in Renče]. Primorske novice (in Slovenian). 14 September 2011.
9. "Parliament Designates 25 October as Sovereignty Day". Slovenia Times. 9 March 2015.
10. "Zakaj je danes dela prost dan?" [Why Is Today a Work-Free Day?]. Slovenske novice (in Slovenian). 31 October 2011.
11. "1. november - dan, ki velja za praznik zmagoslavja in veselja" [1 November - the Day Which Is Seen as the Holiday of Triumph and Joy]. MMC RTV Slovenija (in Slovenian) (RTV Slovenija).
12. "Dan Rudolfa Maistra" [Rudolf Maister Day]. Delo.si (in Slovenian). 23 November 2009.

External links

• (Slovene) Holidays and Days off in the Republic of Slovenia Act. Retrieved 14 May 2012.