In this article School-Holidays.Info will tell when there’ll be holidays in France in 2023. You’ll learn the specifics of civil and religious holidays. Which of them will be official days off for the French, and which will not. We’ll also write which local holidays in 2023 will be days off in the overseas territories of France and in the Alsace-Moselle Concordat.
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Specifics of holidays in France
There are many civil and religious holidays in France, but only 11 of them are official days off. This list is specified in the labor code of the Republic, in article L3133-1. The list is the same for almost all regions, but for some there are additional weekends for local holidays. For example, weekends are Good Friday and the second day of Christmas in Alsace-Moselle, or Abolition Day in the Overseas Territories.
8 of the 11 public holidays have fixed dates and can fall on Saturdays and Sundays. In this case, collective agreements in companies may provide for an extended holiday, but this is usually not the case. On average, there are 2.29 public holidays per year on weekends. Thus, not all 11 holidays in France are exactly free from work, but an average of 8.7.
Below we provide the calendar of public holidays in France for 2023 month by month.
National holidays and days off in France 2023
All the dates below are official French holidays in 2023. There are only eleven of them. Additional dates for Alsace-Moselle and overseas territories will be noted additionaly.
January
January 1, 2023 (Sunday) – The first day of the year. Feast of the Most Holy Theotokos among Catholics.
April
April 10, 2023 (Monday) – Easter Monday.
May
May 1, 2023 (Monday) – Labor Day. The only paid day off, which is mandatory for all French people, except for workers in critical professions (compensation is provided for them). All other public holidays are days off, unless otherwise specified in the company’s collective agreement.
May 8, 2023 (Monday) – Victory Day;
May 18, 2023 (Thursday) – Ascension of the Lord;
May 29, 2023 (Monday) – Pentecost Monday. Holy Spirit Day.
July
July 14, 2023 (Friday) – National holiday of France. Bastille Day.
August
August 15, 2023 (Tuesday) – Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
November
November 1, 2023 (Wednesday) – All Saints’ Day;
November 11, 2023 (Saturday) – Armistice of Compiegne 1918. Day the First World War ended.
December
December 25, 2023 (Monday) – Christmas.
Additional weekends in the regions of France 2023
The Labor Code of the Republic provides for other public holidays for different regions. Below is a list of them. These days are free from work for the specified regions, unless otherwise stipulated by the collective agreement.
French Polynesia
March 5, 2023 (Sunday) – Missionary Day;
April 7, 2023 (Friday) – Good Friday;
June 29, 2023 (Thursday) – Autonomy Day.
Alsace-Moselle
April 7, 2023 (Friday) – Good Friday;
December 26, 2023 (Tuesday) – Saint-Etienne. The second day of Christmas.
Martinique
April 7, 2023 (Friday) – Good Friday;
May 22, 2023 (Monday) – Abolition of Slavery Day;
November 2, 2023 (Thursday) – Feast of the Dead. Halloween.
Guadalupe
April 7, 2023 (Friday) – Good Friday;
May 27, 2023 (Saturday) – Abolition of Slavery Day;
November 2, 2023 (Thursday) – Feast of the Dead. Halloween.
Mayotte
April 27, 2023 (Thursday) – Abolition of Slavery Day.
Wallis and Futuna
April 28, 2023 (Friday) – Saint Pierre Chanel Day;
July 29, 2023 (Saturday) – Territory Day.
Saint Martin
May 28, 2023 (Sunday) – Abolition of Slavery Day.
French Guiana
June 10, 2023 (Saturday) – Abolition of Slavery Day.
New Caledonia
September 24, 2023 (Sunday) – Citizenship Day.
Saint Barthelemy
October 9, 2023 (Monday) – Abolition of Slavery Day.
Reunion
December 20, 2023 (Wednesday) – Abolition of Slavery Day.
In this publication, we talked about public holidays and days off in France in 2023. You learned about 11 national holidays and about local holidays in some regions. We hope the text was useful to you. Don’t forget to share it with your friends!
