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The following is the list ofofficial public holidays recognized by theGovernment of Russia. On these days, government offices,embassies, schools, companies and some shops, are closed. If the date of observance falls on aweekend, the following Monday will be a day off in lieu of the holiday.
In addition toNew Year's Day (Новый год,Novy god) on 1 January, 2–5 January are public holidays as well,[1][2] called New Year holiday (новогодние каникулы,novogodniye kanikuly). The holiday includes 6 and 8 January, with Christmas being 7 January, declared as non-working days bylaw. Until 2005, only 1 and 2 January were public holidays.[3]
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Christmas in Russia (Рождество Христово,Rozhdestvo Khristovo) is celebrated on 25 December (Julian calendar) which falls on 7 January (Gregorian calendar) and commemorates the birth ofJesus Christ. The public holiday was re-established in 1991, following the decades ofsuppression of religion andstate atheism of theSoviet Union.
TheDefender of the Fatherland Day (День защитника Отечествa,Den zashchitnika Otechestva) is celebrated on 23 February and is dedicated to veterans and service personnel of theRussian Armed Forces, though it is often colloquially known as Men's Day (День Мужчин,Den' Muzhchin) and commonly treated as a celebration of all men. The holiday was established in 1918 as it is connected to the decree published that day by the Council of People's Commissars that formalized the official mandatory conscription in theRed Army.
On the eve of World War I campaigning for peace, Russian women observed their firstInternational Women's Day on the last Sunday in February 1913. In 1913 following discussions, International Women's Day was transferred to 8 March, which has remained the global date forInternational Women's Day ever since.
In the former Soviet Union, 1 May wasInternational Workers' Day and was celebrated with huge parades in cities likeMoscow. Though the celebrations are low-key nowadays, several groups march on that day to protest grievances the workers have. Since 1992, May Day is officially called "The Day of Spring and Labour".
On 9 May, Russia celebrates the victory overNazi Germany, while remembering those who died in order to achieve it. On 9 May 1945 (byMoscow time) the German military surrendered to the Soviet Union and theAllies of World War II in Berlin (Karlshorst).Victory Day (День Победы,Den Pobedy) is by far one of the biggest Russian holidays. It commemorates those who died in World War II and pays tribute to survivors and veterans. Flowers and wreaths are laid on wartime graves and special parties and concerts are organized for veterans. In the evening there is a firework display. A large ground and air military parade, hosted by thePresident of the Russian Federation, is annually organized inMoscow onRed Square. Similar ground, air and marine (if possible) parades are organized in several other Russian cities, primarily those which areHero Cities or havemilitary districts or afleet.
Russia Day (День России,Den Rossii) is celebrated on 12 June. On this day, in 1991, the Russian parliament formally declared Russian sovereignty from theSoviet Union. The holiday was officially established in 1992.
Initially it was named Day of the Adoption of theDeclaration of Sovereignty of the Russian Federation, then on 1 February 2002 it was officially renamed Russia Day (in 1998Boris Yeltsin offered this name socially[clarification needed]).
In Russian society there is a misconception that this holiday is also called "Russia's Independence Day", but it never has had such a name in official documents. According to a survey byLevada Center in May 2009, 44% of respondents named the holiday as "Independence Day of Russia".
Unity Day (День народного единства,Den narodnogo edinstva) was first celebrated on 4 November 2005, commemorating the popular uprising led byKuzma Minin andDmitry Pozharsky which ended thePolish occupation of Moscow in November 1612, and more generally the end ofPolish intervention in Russia and theTime of Troubles. The event was marked by a public holiday which was held in Russia on 22 October (Old Style) from 1649 till 1917. Its name alludes to the idea that all the classes of Russian society willingly united to preserve Russian statehood when its demise seemed inevitable, even though there was neither a Tsar nor Patriarch to guide them. Most observers view this as a replacement for theOctober Revolution Day. National Unity Day is also known as Consolidation Day (as an alternative translation), which people in Russia celebrate between 3-4 November.
| Date | English name | Original name | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 12 January | Prosecutor General's Day | День работника прокуратуры Российской Федерации | Honoring the 1772 foundation of the office of theProsecutor General of Russia |
| 25 January | Tatiana Day | Татьянин день | Celebrated as (University) Students' Day |
| 15 February | International Duties Memorial Day | День памяти воинов-интернационалистов | Honoring all those who served in the 1979–1989Soviet–Afghan War and in assisting and helpingWarsaw Pact armed services during theCold War or serving in various other military actions abroad, e.g. Vietnam |
| 27 February | Day of Special Operations Forces[4] | День Сил специальных операций | Honoring the active and reserve personnel, heroes and veterans of theSpecial Operations Forces and commemorating establishment of Russian control in Crimea in 2014[5] |
| 25 March | Cultural Worker Day | День работника культуры России | Honoring people involved in the cultural sector |
| 21 April | Local Self-Government Day[6] | День местного самоуправления | |
| 26 April | Memorial Day for those lost in radiation accidents and catastrophes | День памяти погибших в радиационных авариях и катастрофах | Anniversary of the 1986Chernobyl disaster |
| 27 April | Day of Russian Parliamentarism[7] | День российского парламентаризма | commemorates the first session of Russia's first-ever State Duma in 1906 |
| 6 June | Day of the Russian Language[8] | День русского языка | Prior to 2011, Pushkin Day honoring Alexander Puskhin, now honors the Russian Language |
| 8 June | Social Worker Day | День социального работника | Enacted in 2000 |
| 3rd Sunday of June | Medical Worker Day | День медицинского работника | Has been celebrated since 1988 in USSR |
| Last Sunday of July | Navy Day | День Военно-Морского Флота | Honoring the active and reserve personnel, heroes and veterans of theRussian Navy |
| 29 June | Partisans and Underground Fighters Day | День партизан и подпольщиков | Holiday enacted in 2009, honoring the 1941 decree on the raising of the first units of theSoviet partisans by the Council of People's Commissariats |
| 1st Sunday of August | Railway Workers' Day | День железнодорожника | Holiday commemorating the achievements of the railways sector |
| 1 August | Day of Remembrance of Russian Soldiers Who Fell in World War I | День памяти российских воинов, погибших в Первой мировой войне 1914–1918 годов | Holiday enacted in 2013 |
| 6 August | Russian Railway Troops Day | День железнодорожных войск | Honoring all the active and reserve personnel, heroes, fallen and veterans of theRussian Railway Troops |
| 12 August | Russian Air Force Day | День Военно-воздушных сил | Honoring the active and reserve personnel, heroes and veterans of theRussian Air Force |
| 2nd Saturday of August | Sports Day | День физкультурника | Holiday commemorating the achievements of the nation's sportsmen and women, coaches, judges, sports officials and youth and disabled athletes |
| 2nd Sunday of August | Builders' Day | День строителя | Holiday commemorating construction workers. |
| 22 August | State Flag Day | День Государственного флага Российской Федерации | Enacted in 1994, commemorating the 1991 resolution to restore the white–blue–red tricolor asnational flag by the supreme soviet of the Russian SFSR |
| 27 August | Films and Movies Day | День российского кино | Honoring people involved in one of the world's oldest national film industries |
| 13 September | Programmer Day | День программиста | professional day |
| 29 September | Day of Machine-Building industry workers | День машиностроителей | professional holiday |
| 1 October | Russian Ground Forces Day | День Сухопутных войск | Honors those serving, the heroes, fallen and veterans of theRussian Ground Forces on the day of the raising of the first units of the legendaryStreltsy byIvan the Terrible in 1550 |
| 4 October | Russian Aerospace Defense Forces Day | День космических войск | The anniversary of the 1957 launch ofSputnik that opened the way to theSpace Age |
| 23 October | Day of Advertisement industry Workers | День работников рекламы | professional holiday, enacted in 1994 |
| 24 October | Day of Special Forces of the Armed Forces | День подразделений специального назначения | Memorial, enacted in 2006, honoring the 1950 raising of the firstSpetsnaz companies |
| 25 October | Day of Customs Workers | День таможенника | Enacted in 1995 |
| 29 October | Day of MVD Security services | День вневедомственной охраны | Enacted in 1952 by government decree |
| 30 October | Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Political Repressions | День памяти жертв политических репрессий | Enacted in 1991, honors the victims of the Imperial and Soviet era political repressions |
| 31 October | Day of the Detention Centers and Prisons Workers | День работников СИЗО и тюрем | Enacted in 2006 |
| 10 November | Police and Internal Affairs Servicemen's Day | День сотрудника органов внутренних дел Российской Федерации | Honoring all those serving in thePolice of Russia and all those working in theMinistry of Internal Affairs (Russia) |
| 19 November | Day of the Missile Forces and Artillery | День ракетных войск и артиллерии | Enacted on 21 October 1944, to commemorate the artillery strikes and bombardment at the Battle of Stalingrad of 19 November 1942 |
| 28 November | Naval Infantry Day | День морской пехоты | Honoring the 1705 date of the raising of the first units of today's Russian Naval Infantry by orders ofPeter the Great |
| 9 December | Day of Heroes of the Fatherland | День Героев Отечества | On 25 January 2007, the day before the consideration of the bill,Boris Gryzlov,Chairman of the State Duma of the Russian Federation and Chairman of the Supreme Council of theUnited Russia party, explained in his interview to journalists that "We are talking about the restoration of the holiday that existed in pre-revolutionary Russia - the Day of the Cavaliers of St. George, which was celebrated on 9 December. The same date will be assigned to the Day of Heroes of the Fatherland, who deserve to have their own holiday." This memorial date was established by theState Duma of the Russian Federation on 26 January 2007, when the Russian parliamentarians adopted the relevant bill in the first reading. The explanatory note to the document stated the following: "we not only pay tribute to the memory of heroic ancestors, but also honor the livingHeroes of the Soviet Union,Heroes of the Russian Federation, holders of theOrder of St. George and theOrder of Glory." In the same place, the authors of the bill expressed the hope that a new memorial date for Russia would contribute to "the formation in society of the ideals of selfless service to the Fatherland." On 21 February 2007, this initiative was approved by theFederation Council. On 28 February 2007, the President of the Russian Federation,Vladimir Putin, approved it. |
| 17 December | Strategic Missile Troops Day | День Ракетных войск стратегического назначения | Enacted in 1995 to commemorate the establishment of the strategic missile forces on 17 December 1959 |
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