Public holidays and school breaks in Serbia

A calendar of Serbian state holidays for the current and next year — dates, weekdays and the Sunday substitution rule (Zakon o državnim praznicima, art. 3a). For every non-working day you can see what is closed (banks, MUP, APR, courts, civil registry, post office), what stays open (round-the-clock shops and bakeries, exchange offices, cafes on shorter hours) and where not to drive on a long weekend — border queues grow several times over. Easter-cycle dates are recalculated algorithmically rather than hand-edited, so the calendar never goes stale.

Non-working public holiday days in Serbia in 2026: 14. The calendar is built from eight fixed dates (New Year on 1 and 2 January, Christmas on 7 January, Statehood Day on 15 and 16 February, Labour Day on 1 and 2 May, Armistice Day on 11 November) plus four consecutive Easter days — from Good Friday to Easter Monday. Easter here is Orthodox and movable: it is computed algorithmically from the Julian calendar, so it lands on different dates every year. Dates on this page are recalculated automatically, not hand-edited.

Substitution rule: when a holiday falls on a Sunday, the next working day becomes non-working too (Zakon o državnim praznicima, art. 3a). In 2026 that adds 2 substitutions.

Upcoming non-working days

2026 holiday calendar

2027 holiday calendar

School breaks

School breaks are set by a regulation, and there is more than one: AP Vojvodina has its own provincial one, so the winter break in Novi Sad and Subotica starts earlier and is shorter than in Belgrade. Primary and secondary schools also differ on the winter and summer breaks. For final-year students the summer break starts after the final or matura exam, with no fixed date in the regulation.

Serbia outside Vojvodina

AP Vojvodina

Long weekends

What is closed on a public holiday

On a public holiday banks, government offices (MUP, APR, courts, civil registry), the post office and most companies are shut. Plan residence-permit filings, driving-licence exchange, address registration and APR submissions with a buffer: slots and queues fill up before a long weekend. Government offices mapped on SerbiaHub: 47:

What stays open on a public holiday

Large malls, supermarkets, cafes and restaurants usually work but on shorter hours; small private shops are more often closed. Round-the-clock spots (shops, bakeries, kiosks) on the map: 209:

Banks are closed, but exchange offices (menjačnica) normally work on holidays — the directory lists 799 of them with addresses and rates: Exchange offices and rates

Borders and travel around holidays

Before holidays and during long weekends border queues grow several times over — especially Horgoš (Hungary), Batrovci (Croatia), Gostun and Jabuka (Montenegro). Serbian border crossings tracked by SerbiaHub: 43, waiting times refresh every 30 minutes from AMSS data (18/10/2026 13:54).

Border waiting times

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