Public holidays in Sweden
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All official holidays (Swedish: helgdagar) in Sweden are established by acts of Parliament.[1] The official holidays can be divided into Christian and non-Christian holidays. The main Christian holidays are Jul (Christmas), Trettondedag jul (Epiphany (Christian)), Påsk (Easter), Kristi himmelsfärds dag (Ascension Day), Pingstdagen (Pentecost) and Alla helgons dag (All Saints). The non-Christian holidays are: Nyårsdagen (New Year's Day), Första maj (International Workers' Day), Sveriges nationaldag (National Day) and Midsommar (Midsummer).
In addition to this, all Sundays are official holidays but they are not as important as the main holidays. The names of the Sundays follow the liturgical calendar and they should be categorized as Christian holidays. When the standard working week in Sweden was reduced to 40 hours by the Parliament (the Riksdag), all Saturdays became de facto public holidays. Easter Sunday and Pentecost are Sundays that form part of a main holiday and they are preceded by a kind of special Saturdays.
Holy Saturday, Midsummer's Eve, Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve equal to public holiday in law.
Rather unique for Sweden is the celebration of Lucia (Saint Lucia Day). She is the only saint to be celebrated in Lutheran Sweden (as well as those parts of Norway and Finland, where Swedish influence has historically been prominent). The celebration, which, however, is not a public holiday, always takes place on 13 December and retains many pre-Christian traditions. The same is also true for many holidays in Sweden.
In Sweden, a public holiday is typically referred to as "red day" (röd dag), as it is printed in red in calendars. It is quite common for businesses to close at noon the day before certain holidays, and also if a holiday falls on a Tuesday or a Thursday, Swedes will commonly take off the "squeeze day" (klämdag) that falls between the red day and the weekend.
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[edit] Tradition
In Swedish tradition many holidays have their main celebrations not on the Day but on the Eve of the holiday, meaning one day earlier. This is especially significant on Christmas Eve and Midsummer Eve, but also on New Year's Eve, however in this case not really unique. Christmas Eve, Midsummer Eve and New Year's Eve might very well be the single most important holidays during the entire year for Swedes. These days are however not official holidays but half-days, and de facto full holidays. Most employers provide for the days as full holidays. Other half-day holidays with a full-day de facto status are: Twelfth Night, Maundy Thursday, Walpurgis Night, the day before Ascension Day and the day before All Saints.
The Swedish calendar also provides for special flag days. Flag days are in some cases official holidays or the birthdays and namedays for the Royal family and informal holidays like Gustav Adolph Day or the Nobel Day. A day's status as a flag day has no formal link with an eventual status as an official or as a de facto holiday.
The official National holiday of Sweden is celebrated on 6 June, a status which it was finally granted in 2005. The Name days in Sweden calendar is also denoted: it has a long history, originally a calendar of saints, some names have stuck throughout centuries while others have been modernized.
[edit] Several observances at once
There are instances where official holidays, de facto half days, official flagdays and other observances clash and several celebrations may run concurrently. One such case is the 30 April which is immediately followed by 1 May. 30 April is a de facto half day because it is the Walpurgis Eve and the main day for celebrations to the arrival of the spring season. The following day is actually Walpurgis Day; however, in the calendar it is primarily denoted as May Day, or Labor Day. This means that depending on your sympathies you may either celebrate it as May Day or as Walpurgis Day. In addition to this 30 April is also the king's birthday and official flag day. Also 1 May is an official flag day by virtue of May Day or Walpurgis day. If either day would fall on a Sunday that day would also in that respect be an official holiday and a Christian holiday, as one of the Sundays following Easter.
In 2008, due to the unusually early Easter, Ascension Day occurred on 1 May. This was the first time this happened since May Day became a public holiday in 1939. The next time these holidays overlap is in 2160. The next time Ascension Day will coincide with Walpurgis Eve on 30 April (which is the earliest possible day) is in 2285.
[edit] Festivities
[edit] List of public holidays in Sweden
[edit] Official public holidays
In addition to every Sunday, the public holidays in Sweden as defined by law are:[1]
| Public holiday | Date of observation |
|---|---|
| New Year's Day (nyårsdagen) | 1 January |
| Epiphany (trettondedag jul) | 6 January |
| Good Friday (långfredagen) | The Friday closest before Easter Sunday. (2009: 10 April) |
| Easter Sunday (påskdagen) | The Sunday closest after the full moon that occurs on or closest after 21 March. (2009: 12 April) |
| Easter Monday (annandag påsk) | The day after Easter Sunday. (2009: 13 April) |
| International Workers' Day (första maj) | 1 May |
| Ascension Day (Kristi himmelsfärdsdag) | Sixth Thursday after Easter Sunday. (2009: 21 May) |
| Whitsunday (pingstdagen) | Seventh Sunday after Easter Sunday. (2009: 31 May) |
| National Day of Sweden (Sveriges nationaldag) | 6 June |
| Midsummer's Day (midsommardagen) | The Saturday during the period 20–26 June. (2009: 20 June) |
| All Saints' Day (alla helgons dag) | The Saturday during the period 31 October–6 November. (2009: 31 October) |
| Christmas Day (juldagen) | 25 December |
| Boxing Day (annandag jul) | 26 December |
[edit] De facto holidays
The day before an official holiday is in most cases treated as a de facto holiday in two variants, full day and half day.
[edit] De facto full holidays ("Helgdag")
The de facto full holidays are treated as official holidays.
| De facto full holiday | Date of observation |
|---|---|
| Midsummer's Eve (midsommarafton) | The day before Midsummer's Day (2009: 19 June) |
| Christmas Eve (julafton) | 24 December |
| New Year's Eve (nyårsafton) | 31 December |
[edit] De facto half holidays ("Helgdagsafton")
The de facto half holidays are in many cases treated with the afternoon off.
| De facto half holiday | Date of observation |
|---|---|
| Twelfth Night (trettondagsafton) | 5 January |
| Maundy Thursday (skärtorsdagen) | The day before Good Friday (2009: 9 April) |
| Holy Saturday (påskafton) | The day before Easter (2009: 12 April) |
| Valborg (valborgsmässoafton) | 30 April |
| Ascension Eve (Kristi himmelsfärdsdag) | The day before Ascension Day. (2009: 21 May) |
| All Saints' Eve (allhelgonaafton) | The day before All Saint's Day (2009: 30 October) |
[edit] References
- ^ a b "Lag (1989:253) om allmänna helgdagar". Parliament of Sweden. http://www.riksdagen.se/webbnav/index.aspx?nid=3911&bet=1989:253. Retrieved on 2007-08-01.
