Public Holidays

Discover upcoming public holiday dates for Papua New Guinea and start planning to make the most of your time off.

2026 Public Holidays

Date	Day	Holiday
1 Jan	Thu	New Year's Day
26 Feb	Thu	Remembrance Day of the Late First Prime Minister
3 Apr	Fri	Good Friday
4 Apr	Sat	Easter Saturday
5 Apr	Sun	Easter Sunday
6 Apr	Mon	Easter Monday
8 Jun	Mon	King's Birthday
23 Jul	Thu	National Remembrance Day
26 Aug	Wed	National Repentance Day
16 Sep	Wed	Independence Day
25 Dec	Fri	Christmas Day
26 Dec	Sat	Boxing Day
The dates in this table are an estimate. We will update this page once the official public holiday dates for 2026 are released.

2027 Public Holidays

Date	Day	Holiday
1 Jan	Fri	New Year's Day
26 Feb	Fri	Remembrance Day of the Late First Prime Minister
26 Mar	Fri	Good Friday
27 Mar	Sat	Easter Saturday
28 Mar	Sun	Easter Sunday
29 Mar	Mon	Easter Monday
10 Jun	Thu	King's Birthday
23 Jul	Fri	National Remembrance Day
26 Aug	Thu	National Repentance Day
16 Sep	Thu	Independence Day
25 Dec	Sat	Christmas Day
26 Dec	Sun	Boxing Day
27 Dec	Mon	Boxing Day Holiday
The dates in this table are an estimate. We will update this page once the official public holiday dates for 2027 are released.

2028 Public Holidays

Date	Day	Holiday
1 Jan	Sat	New Year's Day
26 Feb	Sat	Remembrance Day of the Late First Prime Minister
14 Apr	Fri	Good Friday
15 Apr	Sat	Easter Saturday
16 Apr	Sun	Easter Sunday
17 Apr	Mon	Easter Monday
17 Jun	Sat	King's Birthday
23 Jul	Sun	National Remembrance Day
26 Aug	Sat	National Repentance Day
16 Sep	Sat	Independence Day
25 Dec	Mon	Christmas Day
26 Dec	Tue	Boxing Day
The dates in this table are an estimate. We will update this page once the official public holiday dates for 2028 are released.

Papua New Guinea celebrates eight national holidays each year. The Easter Holiday is a four-day celebration, with each day except Sunday considered a national holiday. The Christmas holiday consists of a minimum of two days celebration, and often extends over three days depending on the day the actual holiday falls on during the week.

All holidays are regulated under the Public Holiday’s Act of 1953, Chapter 321 of the Consolidated Laws of Papua New Guinea. This law also gives the Prime Minister the authority to declare additional holidays if necessary. In most cases, holidays are declared when there is a death of a prominent government official either current or retired, or if there are special events taking place in the country.

The Labour Code of Papua New Guinea states that all employers must provide employees with a paid day off for nationally recognised holidays. If the employer must have an employee present during a holiday, the employee must receive the equivalent of time and one half per hour worked or given a different paid day off in lieu of the holiday.

Many businesses close for the entire period between December 25 and January 2 for the holidays. The government, however, only requires businesses to acknowledge the official holidays during this period for paying employees and providing days off.