Sri Lanka Public Holidays and Poya Days 2027

Every gazetted public holiday and Poya day in Sri Lanka for 2027, counting down to the next day off. Switch years to see the rest of 2026, and check the long-weekend list for the breaks a single day of leave would turn into four or five days.

Next public holiday

24

Public holidays

12

Poya days

13

Long weekends

7

Fall on a weekend

Long weekends in 2027

Breaks of three days or more, including the ones a single day of leave would unlock.

15–17 January

Tamil Thai Pongal Day

3 days

No leave needed.

22–24 January

Duruthu Full Moon Poya Day

3 days

No leave needed.

4–7 February

National Day

4 days

2 days free — take 1 day of leave for 4.

20–22 March

Madin Full Moon Poya Day

3 days

No leave needed.

26–28 March

Good Friday

3 days

No leave needed.

10–14 April

Sinhala and Tamil New Year's Eve + Sinhala and Tamil New Year's Day

5 days

2 days free — take 1 day of leave for 5.

17–20 April

Bak Full Moon Poya Day

4 days

2 days free — take 1 day of leave for 4.

15–19 May

Eid al-Adha + Vesak Full Moon Poya Day

5 days

3 days free — take 1 day of leave for 5.

18–20 June

Poson Full Moon Poya Day

3 days

No leave needed.

14–16 August

Milad-Un-Nabi + Nikini Full Moon Poya Day

3 days

No leave needed.

15–17 October

Vap Full Moon Poya Day

3 days

No leave needed.

28–31 October

Deepavali

4 days

2 days free — take 1 day of leave for 4.

11–13 December

Unduvap Full Moon Poya Day

3 days

No leave needed.

Every holiday in 2027

January

  • 15Fri

    Tamil Thai Pongal Day

    Hindu
  • 22Fri

    Duruthu Full Moon Poya Day

    Poya

February

  • 4Thu

    National Day

    National
  • 8Mon

    Ramadan Start

    Muslim· not a day off· date may shift
  • 14Sun

    Valentine's Day

    Observance· not a day off
  • 20Sat

    Navam Full Moon Poya Day

    Poya· already a weekend

March

  • 6Sat

    Mahasivarathri Day

    Hindu· already a weekend
  • 10Wed

    Eid al-Fitr

    Muslim· date may shift
  • 22Mon

    Madin Full Moon Poya Day

    Poya
  • 26Fri

    Good Friday

    Christian
  • 28Sun

    Easter Sunday

    Christian· not a day off

April

  • 13Tue

    Sinhala and Tamil New Year's Eve

    Cultural
  • 14Wed

    Sinhala and Tamil New Year's Day

    Cultural
  • 20Tue

    Bak Full Moon Poya Day

    Poya

May

  • 1Sat

    May Day

    National· already a weekend
  • 9Sun

    Mother's Day

    Observance· not a day off
  • 17Mon

    Eid al-Adha

    Muslim· date may shift
  • 19Wed

    Vesak Full Moon Poya Day

    Poya

June

  • 6Sun

    Muharram

    Muslim· not a day off· date may shift
  • 18Fri

    Poson Full Moon Poya Day

    Poya
  • 20Sun

    Father's Day

    Observance· not a day off

July

  • 18Sun

    Esala Full Moon Poya Day

    Poya· already a weekend

August

  • 15Sun

    Milad-Un-Nabi

    Muslim· already a weekend· date may shift
  • 16Mon

    Nikini Full Moon Poya Day

    Poya

September

  • 15Wed

    Binara Full Moon Poya Day

    Poya

October

  • 15Fri

    Vap Full Moon Poya Day

    Poya
  • 28Thu

    Deepavali

    Hindu

November

  • 13Sat

    Il Full Moon Poya Day

    Poya· already a weekend

December

  • 13Mon

    Unduvap Full Moon Poya Day

    Poya
  • 24Fri

    Christmas Eve

    Christian· not a day off
  • 25Sat

    Christmas Day

    Christian· already a weekend

Sri Lanka's 2027 holidays at a glance

Twenty-four gazetted public holidays fall in 2027. Twelve of them are Poya days, one for each full moon, which is the main reason Sri Lanka has one of the longest public holiday lists in the world.

Seven of the twenty-four land on a Saturday or Sunday. For anyone working a Monday-to-Friday week those add no day off, which brings the practical count closer to seventeen.

2027 public holidays by type
TypeCountNotes
Poya days12One per full moon, dates move each year
Islamic3Moon-sighting dependent, dates may shift
Christian2Good Friday and Christmas Day
Hindu2Thai Pongal and Deepavali
National and cultural5Independence Day, May Day, Sinhala and Tamil New Year

The Poya days of 2027

A Poya day is the full moon of each lunar month and a Buddhist religious holiday. Because they follow the lunar cycle rather than the Gregorian calendar, they fall about eleven days earlier each year and occasionally a thirteenth Adhi Poya is inserted - as happened in 2026, which had fourteen Poya-designated days.

Full moon Poya days in 2027
PoyaDateDay
Duruthu22 JanuaryFriday
Navam20 FebruarySaturday
Madin22 MarchMonday
Bak20 AprilTuesday
Vesak19 MayWednesday
Poson18 JuneFriday
Esala18 JulySunday
Nikini16 AugustMonday
Binara15 SeptemberWednesday
Vap15 OctoberFriday
Il13 NovemberSaturday
Unduvap13 DecemberMonday

Planning leave around the 2027 calendar

The long-weekend list above is computed by scanning the year for runs of consecutive days off, then checking which runs a single day of leave would join together. Two dates are worth booking early.

Sinhala and Tamil New Year falls on Tuesday 13 and Wednesday 14 April, so one day of leave on Monday 12 April produces a five-day break. In May, Eid al-Adha on Monday 17 and Vesak on Wednesday 19 are separated by a single working day, so one day of leave on Tuesday 18 May again yields five days.

  • 15-17 January: Thai Pongal on a Friday, three days with no leave.
  • 4-7 February: National Day on a Thursday, four days for one day of leave.
  • 10-14 April: Sinhala and Tamil New Year, five days for one day of leave.
  • 15-19 May: Eid al-Adha and Vesak, five days for one day of leave.
  • 28-31 October: Deepavali on a Thursday, four days for one day of leave.

Which dates are not yet settled

Three of the 2027 public holidays depend on a moon sighting and are marked on this page as dates that may shift: Eid al-Fitr on 10 March, Eid al-Adha on 17 May, and Milad-Un-Nabi on 15 August. Each can move by a day in either direction, and the shift is announced close to the date.

One further gap is worth knowing about. The day following Vesak has been gazetted as a public holiday in every recent year, but it does not yet appear in the source calendar for 2027. If it follows the usual pattern, Thursday 20 May will also be a holiday, extending Vesak week considerably. It is not listed above because it has not been gazetted, and this page reports what the source publishes rather than what it expects.

Public, bank, and mercantile holidays are three different lists

Sri Lanka gazettes three overlapping holiday lists, and assuming they are the same list is the usual cause of a wasted trip to a bank or a government office.

The three holiday designations
DesignationWho it closesSet under
Public holidayGovernment offices and schoolsAnnual gazette
Bank holidayBanks and financial institutionsAnnual gazette
Mercantile holidayPrivate-sector paid days offShop and Office Employees Act
  • Most major dates appear on all three lists, but not every one does.
  • Poya days are public and mercantile holidays; bank treatment can differ.
  • Confirm against your employer's own calendar before booking travel.

More everyday tools

Frequently asked questions

Twenty-four gazetted public holidays fall in 2027, of which twelve are Poya days - one for each full moon. Seven of the twenty-four land on a Saturday or Sunday, so they do not add a day off for anyone working a Monday-to-Friday week.

A Poya day is the full moon day of each lunar month and a Buddhist religious holiday. Sri Lanka gazettes all twelve as public holidays, which is why the country has more public holidays than most. The dates move each year because they follow the lunar cycle rather than the Gregorian calendar.

Vesak Full Moon Poya Day falls on Wednesday 19 May 2027. The day following Vesak has been gazetted as a public holiday in every recent year, which would make Thursday 20 May a holiday too, but that second day is confirmed only when the 2027 holiday gazette is published.

The Islamic holidays - Eid al-Fitr on 10 March, Eid al-Adha on 17 May, and Milad-Un-Nabi on 15 August - depend on a moon sighting and can move by a day in either direction. They are marked on this page as dates that may shift. Poya days and fixed-date holidays such as National Day and Christmas are settled well in advance.

Sri Lanka gazettes three overlapping lists. Public holidays close government offices, bank holidays close banks, and mercantile holidays are the paid days off private-sector employees are entitled to under the Shop and Office Employees Act. Most major dates appear on all three, but not every one does, so confirm against your employer's own calendar before booking travel.

Sinhala and Tamil New Year is the strongest: the 13th and 14th of April fall on Tuesday and Wednesday, so a single day of leave on Monday 12 April joins the weekend for a five-day break. Eid al-Adha on Monday 17 May and Vesak on Wednesday 19 May are separated by one working day, giving another five days for one day of leave.

More than most countries, because every Poya day is a holiday on top of the national, religious, and bank holidays. The exact count for a given year depends on how weekend overlaps fall and on which of the moon-dependent dates are confirmed.

Because many follow lunar and religious calendars rather than the Gregorian one. Poya days track the full moon, and several other observances depend on moon sighting, so their dates move and are sometimes only confirmed close to the day.

They are separate lists, and a date on one is not automatically on the others. Public, bank, and mercantile holidays each determine what closes - government offices, banks, and private-sector workplaces respectively - so whether you get a given day off depends on which list your employer follows.