Colombia Public Holidays 2025
Colombia’s 2025 calendar holds eighteen paid national festivos under Ley 51 de 1983 — but only seventeen days off, because the Sacred Heart of Jesus (liturgically Friday 27 June) and Saints Peter and Paul (29 June, a Sunday) are both transferred by the statute to the very same Monday, 30 June. Another quirk of the year: 20 July, the Declaration of Independence, is immovable and lands on a Sunday, and Colombia grants no substitute, so the country’s birthday gives office workers nothing. Eleven windows of three days or more do exist, anchored on the ten Monday transfers.
At a glance
Colombia has 18 official public holidays (18 days off) in 2025 and 11 long weekends; the longest break is Holy Week (Semana Santa) (Apr 17 – 20, 4 days).
| Public holidays | 18 |
|---|---|
| Total days off | 18 |
| Longest break | Holy Week (Semana Santa) · 4 days (Apr 17 – 20) |
| Long weekends | 11 |
Official public holidays
New Year's Day (January 1, 2025), Epiphany (Día de los Reyes Magos) (January 6, 2025), Saint Joseph's Day (Día de San José) (March 24, 2025), Maundy Thursday (Jueves Santo) (April 17, 2025), Good Friday (April 18, 2025), Labour Day (Día del Trabajo) (May 1, 2025), Ascension Day (Ascensión del Señor) (June 2, 2025), Corpus Christi (June 23, 2025), Sacred Heart of Jesus (Sagrado Corazón) (June 30, 2025), Saint Peter and Saint Paul (June 30, 2025), Declaration of Independence (Grito de Independencia) (July 20, 2025), Battle of Boyacá (August 7, 2025), Assumption of Mary (August 18, 2025), Ethnic and Cultural Diversity Day (Día de la Raza) (October 13, 2025), All Saints’ Day (November 3, 2025), Independence of Cartagena (November 17, 2025), Immaculate Conception (December 8, 2025), Christmas Day (December 25, 2025)
National paid festivos
18 rows, 17 days off
Festivos enjoyed on Monday
10 of 17 days
Lost to a weekend
1 — 20 July (Sunday)
Longest automatic break
4 days, Apr 17–20 (Holy Week)
Colombia public holiday list
| Date | Day | Holiday | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| January 1, 2025 | Wednesday | New Year's DayWednesday, immovable — the year starts with a single mid-week day off.Public holiday | Public holiday |
| January 6, 2025 | Monday | Epiphany (Día de los Reyes Magos)6 January 2025 is already a Monday, so Ley 51 leaves it alone — a rare case where the festival and the day of rest coincide.Public holiday | Public holiday |
| March 24, 2025 | Monday | Saint Joseph's Day (Día de San José)19 March 2025 is a Wednesday, so the paid rest is Monday 24 March.Public holiday | Public holiday |
| April 17, 2025 | Thursday | Maundy Thursday (Jueves Santo)Easter 2025 falls on 20 April, so Maundy Thursday is 17 April. Immovable.Public holiday | Public holiday |
| April 18, 2025 | Friday | Good FridayThe anchor of Semana Santa: Thursday + Friday + Saturday + Easter Sunday makes 2025’s only four-day run.Public holiday | Public holiday |
| May 1, 2025 | Thursday | Labour Day (Día del Trabajo)Thursday in 2025 and never moved; one Friday of leave stretches it to a four-day weekend.Public holiday | Public holiday |
| June 2, 2025 | Monday | Ascension Day (Ascensión del Señor)Ascension is Thursday 29 May (Easter + 39); the paid rest moves to Monday 2 June, so 29 May is a normal working day.Public holiday | Public holiday |
| June 23, 2025 | Monday | Corpus ChristiThursday 19 June (Easter + 60) transferred to Monday 23 June.Public holiday | Public holiday |
| June 30, 2025 | Monday | Sacred Heart of Jesus (Sagrado Corazón)Liturgically Friday 27 June (Easter + 68), so the rest is Monday 30 June — the same Monday that Saints Peter and Paul are pushed onto. Two festivos, one day off.Public holiday | Public holiday |
| June 30, 2025 | Monday | Saint Peter and Saint Paul29 June 2025 is a Sunday, and Ley 51 sends Sunday festivals to the next Monday — which was already taken by the Sacred Heart. This collision is why 2025 lists 18 festivos but only 17 days off.Public holiday | Public holiday |
| July 20, 2025 | Sunday | Declaration of Independence (Grito de Independencia)Immovable — and in 2025 it falls on a Sunday, so Monday-to-Friday workers get nothing. Colombia does not substitute weekend holidays.Public holiday | Public holiday |
| August 7, 2025 | Thursday | Battle of BoyacáThursday in 2025; Friday 8 August is the bridge day that turns it into four.Public holiday | Public holiday |
| August 18, 2025 | Monday | Assumption of Mary15 August 2025 is a Friday, so the rest is enjoyed on Monday 18 August.Public holiday | Public holiday |
| October 13, 2025 | Monday | Ethnic and Cultural Diversity Day (Día de la Raza)12 October 2025 is a Sunday, moved to Monday 13 October. Congress approved renaming this festivo from Día de la Raza in December 2023.Public holiday | Public holiday |
| November 3, 2025 | Monday | All Saints’ Day1 November 2025 is a Saturday; the paid rest is Monday 3 November.Public holiday | Public holiday |
| November 17, 2025 | Monday | Independence of Cartagena11 November 2025 is a Tuesday, transferred to Monday 17 November — a week-long wait for the rest day.Public holiday | Public holiday |
| December 8, 2025 | Monday | Immaculate ConceptionA Monday in 2025, so it comes with a three-day weekend attached — the last automatic break of the year.Public holiday | Public holiday |
| December 25, 2025 | Thursday | Christmas DayThursday, immovable. Árbol de Nochebuena and Novena de Aguinaldos run from 16–24 December, so the working week collapses anyway.Public holiday | Public holiday |
2025 Colombia calendar
01January
02February
03March
04April
05May
06June
07July
08August
09September
10October
11November
12December
Colombia long weekends in 2025
Epiphany Monday
3 daysJan 4 – 6
Because 6 January 2025 is a Monday, no transfer is needed and the weekend simply extends.
Saint Joseph's Day (Día de San José)
3 daysMar 22 – 24
Holy Week (Semana Santa)
4 daysApr 17 – 20
Maundy Thursday and Good Friday run into the weekend and Easter Sunday — the only automatic four-day break of 2025.
Ascension Day (Ascensión del Señor)
3 daysMay 31 – Jun 2
Corpus Christi
3 daysJun 21 – 23
Double Monday: Sacred Heart + Saints Peter and Paul
3 daysJun 28 – 30
Two festivos are transferred onto this Monday, but the calendar can only give the day once: Saturday to Monday is what workers get.
Assumption of Mary
3 daysAug 16 – 18
Ethnic and Cultural Diversity Day (Día de la Raza)
3 daysOct 11 – 13
All Saints’ Day
3 daysNov 1 – 3
Independence of Cartagena
3 daysNov 15 – 17
Immaculate Conception
3 daysDec 6 – 8
Ley 51 de 1983: why Colombia has 18 holidays but 17 days off in 2025
Article 1 of Ley 51 de 1983 grants paid rest on eighteen festivals; its second paragraph transfers ten of them — 6 January, 19 March, 29 June, 15 August, 12 October, 1 November, 11 November, and the Ascension, Corpus Christi and Sacred Heart feasts — to the Monday following the date whenever it is not a Monday, Sunday included. In 2025 the transfers collide: the Sacred Heart (Friday 27 June) and Saints Peter and Paul (Sunday 29 June) both land on Monday 30 June. Both rows stay on this page, because both are statutory festivals, but they consume a single day off — hence eighteen festivos, seventeen days.
Eight dates can never be moved: 1 January, 1 May, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, 20 July, 7 August, 8 December and 25 December. When one of them falls on a weekend, nothing is given back — in 2025 the country’s own birthday, 20 July, lands on a Sunday and is effectively invisible to a Monday–Friday workforce. The 19th festivo that Colombia acquires from 2026 (Chiquinquirá, Ley 2578) is not in this year’s list, and 2025 was never going to catch it.
Ten Monday transfers: how 2025 makes eleven long weekends
Every transferable festival in 2025 needed a move except Epiphany (already a Monday) and none was dropped, so the year delivers eleven separate breaks of three days or more: 4–6 January, 22–24 March, 17–20 April, 31 May–2 June, 21–23 June, 28–30 June, 16–18 August, 11–13 October, 1–3 November, 15–17 November and 6–8 December. Only the Holy Week run reaches four days; the rest are Saturday-to-Monday brackets, which is exactly what makes Colombia such an efficient country to plan around — the long weekend is legislated, not requested.
Two things this page deliberately leaves out. First, departmental and municipal holidays (Cundinamarca’s 20 July commemorations, Medellín’s Fiestas, Cartagena’s hero day) — they are not national paid rest under Ley 51. Second, one-off tourist “bridge” decrees: Colombia occasionally discusses adding intermediate holidays, but no such extra day was in force in 2025, so it would be a fabricated row in your ICS file. Everything above is what our ICS, CSV and PDF exports contain.
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Official sources & data
- Ley 51 de 1983 — «Por la cual se traslada el descanso remunerado de algunos días festivos» (Gestor Normativo)Visit sourceDepartamento Administrativo de la Función Pública (Función Pública, Colombia)
- Nager.Date public-holiday dataset — Colombia 2025 (dates cross-checked against the statutory derivation)Visit sourceNager.Date (open-source public holiday dataset)
- Ley 2578 del 1 de junio de 2026 — art. 6 (Chiquinquirá; the reason 2025 stops at eighteen festivos)Visit sourceSecretaría Jurídico Documental de la Presidencia de la República (DAPRE)
Frequently asked questions
How many public holidays does Colombia have in 2025?
18 statutory festivos — but 17 separate days off, because the Sacred Heart and Saints Peter and Paul are both transferred to Monday 30 June 2025. Chiquinquirá is added only from 2026, when the count becomes 19.
What is the longest holiday break in Colombia in 2025?
The longest break in Colombia is Holy Week (Semana Santa) (Apr 17 – 20, 4 days).
What are the official public holidays in Colombia in 2025?
Colombia has 18 official public holidays in 2025: New Year's Day (January 1, 2025), Epiphany (Día de los Reyes Magos) (January 6, 2025), Saint Joseph's Day (Día de San José) (March 24, 2025), Maundy Thursday (Jueves Santo) (April 17, 2025), Good Friday (April 18, 2025), Labour Day (Día del Trabajo) (May 1, 2025), Ascension Day (Ascensión del Señor) (June 2, 2025), Corpus Christi (June 23, 2025), Sacred Heart of Jesus (Sagrado Corazón) (June 30, 2025), Saint Peter and Saint Paul (June 30, 2025), Declaration of Independence (Grito de Independencia) (July 20, 2025), Battle of Boyacá (August 7, 2025), Assumption of Mary (August 18, 2025), Ethnic and Cultural Diversity Day (Día de la Raza) (October 13, 2025), All Saints’ Day (November 3, 2025), Independence of Cartagena (November 17, 2025), Immaculate Conception (December 8, 2025), Christmas Day (December 25, 2025).
Why is 20 July 2025 not a day off in Colombia?
It is a holiday — the Declaration of Independence — and it is immovable under Ley 51. In 2025 it falls on Sunday 20 July, and Colombia has no substitute-day rule, so a Monday–Friday worker receives nothing in place of it. The parades still happen on the Sunday.
Which Colombian 2025 dates were moved off their real festival day?
Nine: San José (19 Wed → 24 Mon), Ascension (29 May Thu → 2 Jun), Corpus Christi (19 Jun Thu → 23 Jun), Sacred Heart (27 Jun Fri → 30 Jun), Saints Peter and Paul (29 Jun Sun → 30 Jun), Assumption (15 Aug Fri → 18 Aug), Diversity Day (12 Oct Sun → 13 Oct), All Saints (1 Nov Sat → 3 Nov) and Cartagena (11 Nov Tue → 17 Nov). Epiphany stayed on Monday 6 January because it did not need the move.
Does Colombia create makeup workdays to pay for long weekends?
No. Unlike China, no weekend is converted into a working day to fund a moved holiday, and unlike Sweden or Finland, a Colombian holiday is never “shifted” because it fell on a weekend. The only mechanism in the law is the Monday transfer for the ten listed festivals (eleven from 2026); work performed on a festivo is paid with the surcharge set by the Código Sustantivo del Trabajo.
What are the best trip dates in Colombia for 2025?
Holy Week (17–20 April) is the year’s four-day anchor and the season of the processions of Popayán and of Holy Week observances from Villa de Leyva to Mompox. After that, the automatic breaks are Saturday-to-Monday three-dayers: 31 May–2 June (Ascension), 21–23 June, 28–30 June, 16–18 August, 11–13 October, 1–3 November, 15–17 November and 6–8 December. Two of them — Ascension and the double Monday of 30 June — sit in the same fortnight, which makes late May and June the cheapest weeks to be away from Bogotá.
Is the 2025 list the same as 2026?
No. 2026 adds Chiquinquirá on 13 July (Ley 2578 of 1 June 2026), so it has nineteen festivos and nineteen days off with no weekend losses. 2025 has eighteen festivos, seventeen days off, and one lost date (20 July on a Sunday). The same rule set produces a different result every year — which is why the year-by-year pages matter.
