Public Holidays

Discover upcoming public holiday dates for Sierra Leone and start planning to make the most of your time off.

2026 Public Holidays

Date	Day	Holiday
1 Jan	Thu	New Year's Day
18 Feb	Wed	Armed Forces Day
8 Mar	Sun	International Women's Day
9 Mar	Mon	International Women's Day Holiday
20 Mar	Fri	Eid al-Fitr
3 Apr	Fri	Good Friday
6 Apr	Mon	Easter Monday
27 Apr	Mon	Independence Day
1 May	Fri	Labour Day
27 May	Wed	Eid al-Adha
25 Aug	Tue	Prophet Muhammad's Birthday
25 Dec	Fri	Christmas Day
26 Dec	Sat	Boxing Day

2027 Public Holidays

Date	Day	Holiday
1 Jan	Fri	New Year's Day
18 Feb	Thu	Armed Forces Day
8 Mar	Mon	International Women's Day
9 Mar	Tue	Eid al-Fitr
26 Mar	Fri	Good Friday
29 Mar	Mon	Easter Monday
27 Apr	Tue	Independence Day
1 May	Sat	Labour Day
16 May	Sun	Eid al-Adha
17 May	Mon	Eid al-Adha Holiday
14 Aug	Sat	Prophet Muhammad's Birthday
25 Dec	Sat	Christmas Day
26 Dec	Sun	Boxing Day
27 Dec	Mon	Christmas Holiday

2028 Public Holidays

Date	Day	Holiday
1 Jan	Sat	New Year's Day
18 Feb	Fri	Armed Forces Day
26 Feb	Sat	Eid al-Fitr
8 Mar	Wed	International Women's Day
14 Apr	Fri	Good Friday
17 Apr	Mon	Easter Monday
27 Apr	Thu	Independence Day
1 May	Mon	Labour Day
5 May	Fri	Eid al-Adha
3 Aug	Thu	Prophet Muhammad's Birthday
25 Dec	Mon	Christmas Day
26 Dec	Tue	Boxing Day

Sierra Leone celebrates 10 national holidays each year, most of which are religious based celebrations. Many of the holiday celebrations in Sierra Leon occur on different dates each year due to the way their celebration dates are calculated.

National holidays in Sierra Leone are non-working days only. National laws do not require that employers provide any type of payment to their employees for these dates. Companies reserve the right to offer paid national holidays as part of their benefits package. In many cases, paid holidays are only enjoyed by people who work directly for the government or for an international employer.

Employers are required to provide the day off for employees, and if the employee is required to work due to the nature of their job, they are given a day off in lieu of the holiday. There is no documentation stating whether businesses are required to close on the national holidays.

The government reserves the right to establish one-time national holidays. This has been used in the past for election days and to help combat outbreaks of disease. In 2014, Sierra Leone established a 3 day mandatory national holiday to quarantine the country during the Ebola outbreak.