Holidays in Poland 2024 (public and unofficial), non-working days

In this article All-Holidays.Info covers the following topic: holidays in Poland 2024. We will provide the exact dates of public and unofficial holidays. We will indicate the dates on which the non-working day is officially established. We will also give the dates of significant days and memorable dates officially established in Poland in 2024.

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Table of Contents

What you need to know about holidays and non-working days in Poland 2024

In the Republic of Poland there are three types of dates that are celebrated:

Public holidays.
Days off from work.
Holidays and memorable dates.

Public holidays in Poland 2024 are mostly normal working days. There are 14 such days in total (the last one was approved in 2022). There are only three Polish public holidays with a non-working day: National Day 1 May 2024, National Day 3 May 2024, National Independence Day 11 November 2024.

Days off from work usually coincide with traditional holidays. These dates are not established by laws or resolutions of the Seimas as holidays. Inthe 2020 Legislative Bulletin, item 1920, 13 days off from work are defined. For simplicity, in this publication we use the term “unofficial holiday” if the non-working day does not coincide with an official holiday.

Holidays and memorial dates are established in laws or resolutions of the Seimas. They usually focus on historical events, government services, or specific groups of people. These are ordinary working days, which may be accompanied by official events at various levels.

Holidays in Poland 2024

The holidays in Poland 2024 are listed below. By default they are working days. If a holiday is officially designated as a day free from work, this is indicated in parentheses.

January 2024

January 1 (Monday) 2024 – New Year (non-working day), unofficial holiday.
January 6 (Saturday) 2024 – Feast of the Three Kings (non-working day), unofficial holiday.
January 21 (Sunday) 2024 – Grandmothers’ Day, an unofficial holiday.
January 22 (Monday) 2024 – Grandfathers’ Day, an unofficial holiday.

February 2024

February 14 (Wednesday) 2024 – Valentine’s Day, an unofficial holiday.
February 19 (Monday) 2024 – Polish Science Day, a public holiday.

March 2024

March 1 (Friday) 2024 – National Day of Remembrance of the “Cursed Soldiers”, a public holiday.
March 8 (Friday) 2024 – International Women’s Day, an unofficial holiday.
March 24 (Sunday) 2024 – National Day of Remembrance of Poles who saved Jews under German occupation, a public holiday.
March 29 (Friday) 2024 – Good Friday, unofficial holiday.
March 30 (Saturday) 2024 – Holy Saturday, unofficial holiday.
March 31 (Sunday) 2024 – First day of Easter (non-working day), unofficial holiday.

Who are the “damned soldiers”?

The “Cursed Soldiers” operated from 1944 to 1963 as rebel units attacking Soviet and Polish secret police. They wanted to disrupt the establishment of a communist puppet government. Although armed opposition nearly disappeared when the Soviets took over Poland, these fighters, also known as the “doomed soldiers,” persisted.

The “Cursed Soldiers” relied on the underground resistance to coordinate, albeit targeted, subversion and sabotage against the communist authorities. But by 1952, the disobedience of Poland’s “doomed soldiers” was practically exhausted due to arrests, executions and aggressive pursuit by police units.

April 2024

April 1 (Monday) 2024 – Second day of Easter (non-working day), unofficial holiday.
April 14 (Sunday) 2024 – Epiphany Day of Poland, a public holiday.

May 2024

May 1 (Wednesday) 2024 – Public holiday, informally called Labor Day (non-working day), public holiday.
May 3 (Friday) 2024 – National May Third Day (non-working day), public holiday.
May 8 (Wednesday) 2024 – National Victory Day, a public holiday.
May 19 (Sunday) 2024 – First day of Pentecost (non-working day), unofficial holiday.
May 26 (Sunday) 2024 – Mother’s Day, an unofficial holiday.
May 30 (Thursday) 2024 – Corpus Christi Day (non-working day), unofficial holiday.

June 2024

June 1 (Saturday) 2024 – Children’s Day, an unofficial holiday.
June 20 (Thursday) 2024 – National Day of the Silesian Uprising, public holiday.

Briefly about the Silesian Uprising

The Silesian Uprising occurred in 1919-1921. It was led by Polish separatists who hoped to break Silesian territory from Germany. Competing claims to the region sparked three separate uprisings as ethnic Poles defied German administration. The leaders declared an autonomous province of Upper Silesia and fought for either independence or joining the Second Polish Republic.

More than 141,000 men fought against the German military police, although they were poorly armed due to the restrictions of the blockade. Despite limited support from Poland, the Silesian rebels survived. After this, the uprisings subsided thanks to transitional agreements transferring the eastern part of Upper Silesia to Poland.

July 2024

July 12 (Friday) 2024 – Day of struggle and martyrdom of the Polish village, a public holiday.

August 2024

August 1 (Thursday) 2024 – National Day of Remembrance of the Warsaw Uprising, a public holiday.
August 15 (Thursday) 2024 – Dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary (non-working day), unofficial holiday.
August 31 (Saturday) 2024 – Day of Solidarity and Freedom, public holiday.

Warsaw Uprising

The Warsaw Uprising was a major World War II operation undertaken by the Polish Resistance Army to liberate Warsaw from Nazi Germany. It began on August 1, 1944, when Soviet troops approached the eastern outskirts of the city. Desperate to liberate their homeland, some 50,000 Polish fighters launched an attack on German-occupied Warsaw, taking control of most of the city.

However, the USSR abandoned the Poles and stopped the advance, leaving the Polish resistance to fight without allies. After 63 days of brutal urban fighting, the Warsaw Uprising was defeated as the resistance’s supplies and ammunition were exhausted. After the suppression of the uprising, more than 200,000 Poles were killed, and almost the entire city was destroyed by the Nazis.

September 2024

September 30 (Monday) 2024 – Boy’s Day, an unofficial holiday.

What kind of holiday is Boy’s Day?

Boy’s Day appeared as a playful response to International Women’s Day. On this date, women and girls express gratitude to boys and men who occupy an important place in their lives. In schools, girls give boys symbolic gifts. The frivolous nature of Boy’s Day celebrations contrasts with its origins in socialist ideologies promoting gender equality.

October 2024

October 19 (Saturday) 2024 – National Day of Remembrance of Stalwart Clergy, a public holiday.
October 31 (Thursday) 2024 – Halloween, an unofficial holiday.

November 2024

November 1 (Friday) 2024 – All Saints’ Day (non-working day), unofficial holiday.
November 2 (Saturday) 2024 – All Souls’ Day, an unofficial holiday.
November 3 (Sunday) 2024 – Hubertus, unofficial holiday.
November 11 (Monday) 2024 – National Independence Day (non-working day), public holiday.

What is celebrated on Hubertus Day?

Hubertus is a holiday celebrated in Poland, Germany and Great Britain in honor of Saint Hubert. He is considered the patron saint of hunters, furriers, lacemakers and mathematicians. Hubertus originated as a holiday for hunters, marking the beginning of the hunting season after the harvest.

December 2024

December 4 (Wednesday) 2024 – Barborka (Miner’s Day), an unofficial holiday.
December 6 (Friday) 2024 – St. Nicholas Day, an unofficial holiday.
December 25 (Wednesday) 2024 – First Day of Christmas (non-working day), unofficial holiday.
December 26 (Thursday) 2024 – Second Day of Christmas (non-working day), unofficial holiday.
December 27 (Friday) 2024 – National Day of the Victorious Wielkopolska Uprising, public holiday.

What kind of holiday is Barborka?

Barborka (also known as Miner’s Day) is celebrated in honor of St. Barbara, who is considered the patron saint of miners. On this day, Polish miners take part in celebrations dedicated to the mining profession. Large celebrations take place in mining regions such as Silesia and Katowice.

Memorable dates and holidays in Poland 2024

Below we have listed holidays in Poland 2024 that are not public holidays. They are also not classified as unofficial holidays accompanied by a non-working day. These dates are approved in laws or resolutions of the Sejm as holidays, but their status is not defined. In essence, they are nothing more than significant dates.