Five extended weekends in 2027: which holidays give longer breaks

Calendar forecasts show that in 2027 citizens of North Macedonia will enjoy five extended weekends, with several other non-working days reserved for specific religious and ethnic communities. The preliminary schedule points to clustered holidays at the start of the year, in spring, at the end of May, the beginning of August and in October.

Which dates form the extended weekends

The year opens with New Year’s Day: January 1, 2027 falls on a Friday, creating a three-day break when combined with the weekend. Orthodox Christmas on January 7 falls on a Thursday.

Orthodox Easter in 2027 is on May 2, and the second day of Easter, May 3, is a Monday and a public holiday for everyone — producing a long weekend around the first days of May. Later in May, the Day of the Slavic Enlighteners, Saints Cyril and Methodius, on May 24 is also on a Monday, giving a further three-day pause.

August brings another Monday holiday: Republic Day (Ilinden) on August 2, 2027, which extends that weekend. The final long weekend for all citizens comes in October: the Day of the People’s Uprising on October 11 is likewise on a Monday.

Not all public holidays will produce extra days off. Labour Day (May 1) is on a Saturday in 2027, and the Day of the Macedonian Revolutionary Struggle (October 23) also falls on a Saturday. According to legal rules, holidays that occur on Saturday are not automatically moved to Monday. Independence Day (September 8) and the feast of St. Clement of Ohrid (December 8) are both mid-week, on Wednesday.

Orthodox believers will have additional extended opportunities: Good Friday (April 30) and Pentecost (Duhovden, June 18) fall on Fridays in 2027. Other religious observances fall on different weekdays — Badnik (January 6) on Wednesday, Vodici (January 19) on Tuesday and the Assumption of the Virgin (August 28) on Saturday.

The law also provides specific non-working days for members of other religious and ethnic communities, including Catholic Christmas and Easter, Saint Sava, Kurban Bayram, Yom Kippur, International Romani Day, the National Day of the Vlachs, International Day of the Bosniaks, the Day of the Albanian Alphabet and the Day of Teaching in the Turkish Language. The date of Ramadan Bayram still awaits official confirmation.

For those planning travel or annual leave in advance, the most convenient stretches are expected to be early January, the Easter period, late May, early August and mid-October. The definitive list of non-working days will be published with the official 2027 programme, especially for holidays determined by religious calendars.

Photo: press material from the event