Updated 2026-09-27 · 7 min read
Argentina public holidays 2026: dates and long weekends
Argentina has 2026 national holidays from New Year’s Day on Thursday 1 January to Christmas Day on Friday 25 December. The easiest guaranteed breaks are Carnival on 16–17 February, Easter on 2–3 April and the Monday holidays; three additional bridge days are non-working days, not automatic paid holidays for everyone.
In short
- Carnival falls on Monday 16 and Tuesday 17 February 2026.
- Thursday 2 April and Good Friday 3 April make a four-day Easter break with the weekend.
- 23 March, 10 July and 7 December are tourism bridge days, not universal paid holidays.
- The 20 November commemoration is observed on Monday 23 November in 2026.
- Easter Monday and Boxing Day are not national holidays in Argentina.
Argentina’s 2026 public holidays include Carnival on Monday 16 and Tuesday 17 February, a four-day Easter break from Thursday 2 to Sunday 5 April, and several Monday long weekends. If you work here, distinguish a feriado nacional (national public holiday) from a día no laborable (non-working day): the three tourism bridge days do not automatically give every private-sector employee paid leave. The full dated calendar below lets you choose a trip before paying for travel.
Argentina’s 2026 holiday calendar
Dates below are the observed days off, not just the historical dates of commemorations. A weekend in the last column assumes a Monday-to-Friday working week; your roster or school calendar may differ. The tourism bridge days are shown separately because your employer decides whether you work.
| Date in 2026 | Occasion | What it means for a typical Monday–Friday worker |
|---|---|---|
| Thu 1 January | New Year’s Day | National holiday; add Friday leave for four days away |
| Mon 16–Tue 17 February | Carnival | National holidays; four days including the preceding weekend |
| Mon 23 March | Tourism bridge day | Non-working day; ask your employer before counting it as leave |
| Tue 24 March | Day of Remembrance for Truth and Justice | National holiday; four days with 23 March only if you have that day off |
| Thu 2 April | Malvinas Veterans and Fallen in the South Atlantic War Day; also Maundy Thursday | National holiday because of the commemoration, regardless of the separate Easter observance |
| Fri 3 April | Good Friday | National holiday; 2–5 April is a four-day break |
| Fri 1 May | Workers’ Day | National holiday; three-day weekend |
| Mon 25 May | May Revolution Day | National holiday; three-day weekend |
| Mon 15 June | General Güemes commemoration, moved from 17 June | National holiday; three-day weekend |
| Sat 20 June | General Belgrano / Flag Day | National holiday falling on Saturday; no replacement Monday |
| Thu 9 July | Independence Day | National holiday; four days only if Friday is also off |
| Fri 10 July | Tourism bridge day | Non-working day; employer-dependent |
| Mon 17 August | General San Martín commemoration | National holiday; three-day weekend |
| Mon 12 October | Day of Respect for Cultural Diversity | National holiday; three-day weekend |
| Mon 23 November | National Sovereignty Day, moved from 20 November | National holiday; three-day weekend |
| Mon 7 December | Tourism bridge day | Non-working day; employer-dependent |
| Tue 8 December | Immaculate Conception | National holiday; four days only if Monday is off |
| Fri 25 December | Christmas Day | National holiday; three-day weekend |
This is a national calendar. Provinces and municipalities can add local observances, and schools set their own recess dates. Saturday 20 June is still a holiday, but it does not entitle a Monday-to-Friday employee to a substitute weekday off. Do not assume 20 November itself is off: the observed 2026 holiday is Monday 23 November. Check the official national calendar for any subsequent decree or correction before booking non-refundable travel.
Which breaks can you book without using annual leave?
The firm four-day break is 2–5 April: Thursday 2 April is a national commemoration and Friday 3 April is Good Friday. 14–17 February is another four days because Carnival gives you Monday and Tuesday. Three-day weekends follow Friday 1 May, Monday 25 May, Monday 15 June, Monday 17 August, Monday 12 October, Monday 23 November and Friday 25 December. The January holiday falls on Thursday, while Independence Day on Thursday 9 July becomes a four-day trip only if you have Friday 10 July free.
Three tempting combinations need written confirmation at work: 21–24 March needs Monday 23 March off; 9–12 July needs Friday 10 July off; and 5–8 December needs Monday 7 December off. These are designated días no laborables con fines turísticos (tourism non-working days). They are not interchangeable with national holidays when calculating entitlement or holiday pay. Ask payroll or your employer how your contract treats them, rather than assuming a school closure means the office also shuts.
The difference from Britain matters at Easter. The UK’s Easter Monday is Monday 6 April 2026, but Argentina does not make that a nationwide public holiday. Maundy Thursday can be a non-working day in other years; in 2026 it coincides with the fixed 2 April national holiday. There is no nationwide Boxing Day holiday on 26 December. Christmas celebrations often focus on the evening of 24 December, but Christmas Eve is not automatically a full national holiday; see Christmas in Argentina for the practical timings.
Turn the dates into a workable trip
- Choose the observed holiday, not the anniversary date. Compare your employer’s leave calendar with the national list. If a bridge day or a provincial day is essential, get confirmation before buying a ticket. Allow a weekday’s annual leave if it is not granted.
- Choose a destination that fits the actual break. For a Saturday-to-Monday trip from Buenos Aires, Tigre is close enough to avoid a flight; Tigre day-trip planning also works if fares or accommodation surge. Córdoba or Mendoza needs more time in transit; read the Córdoba weekend guide before committing three nights.
- Price the entire journey, not just the outbound leg. Check return train or coach seats, or flight plus airport transfers, against the exact dates. Compare accommodation cancellation terms and whether your return is on the Monday evening or Tuesday morning. Long weekends concentrate demand, so a normal-weekend fare is not a reliable holiday quote.
- Confirm services close to departure. Trenes Argentinos, your coach operator or airline publishes its own timetable; Buenos Aires Subte can run a holiday service. Confirm museum and restaurant hours directly, carry a backup payment method and keep essentials such as medicine before a long closure. If going abroad, remember a domestic public holiday does not determine another country’s opening hours.
A British couple’s November plan
Suppose two adults in Almagro want to leave Buenos Aires for Córdoba after work on Friday 20 November and return on Monday 23 November. Friday is an ordinary working day because National Sovereignty Day has been moved to Monday. They can travel after their shifts and use no leave for the Saturday–Monday break, or request Friday as one day of annual leave to set off earlier; they should not book a Friday-morning departure assuming it is a holiday.
They set an illustrative spending ceiling, not a quoted fare: ARS 1,236,000 for both (about US$800 at the September 2026 reference rate of ARS 1,545 per US$). They allocate ARS 400,000 to return travel, ARS 480,000 to three nights’ accommodation, ARS 300,000 to food and local journeys, and ARS 56,000 as a buffer. If live transport and room quotes exceed either allowance, they reduce the stay to two nights or choose a nearer destination. Their first check is whether the Monday return gets them home in time for work on Tuesday.
Avoid the common holiday mistakes
Do not use the UK bank-holiday calendar to predict an Argentine bank, pharmacy or school timetable. Argentina has Carnival but not an automatic Easter Monday; the Christmas break is not a British Christmas-and-Boxing-Day pair. Shops, restaurants and transport do not all close identically on a feriado: a local supermarket branch and a national bank can operate very differently. A posted ‘open daily’ listing is not a holiday-hours guarantee.
On 2 April, the South Atlantic War commemoration carries particular weight. If you are British, treat memorial events and references to the Malvinas with respect; it is not simply another day off or a prompt for football banter. The guide to the Falklands question covers how to handle the subject in everyday conversation.
This page is for planning days off and leisure travel in 2026, not for deciding your legal leave allowance: your employment contract, sector agreement and provincial calendar decide additional days. If you are staying in Buenos Aires rather than travelling, the weekend-life guide suggests ways to use an ordinary or extended weekend.
Questions
- What are the long weekends in Argentina in 2026?
- Carnival gives a four-day break from 14 to 17 February, and the 2–3 April holidays make 2–5 April a four-day break. Friday 1 May, Monday 25 May, Monday 15 June, Monday 17 August, Monday 12 October, Monday 23 November and Friday 25 December also form three-day weekends for Monday-to-Friday workers. The March, July and December four-day combinations depend on your employer granting a tourism bridge day.
- Is Monday 23 March 2026 a public holiday in Argentina?
- It is a tourism non-working day, not the same as a national public holiday for all employees. Tuesday 24 March is the national holiday. Confirm your employer’s decision about Monday before booking a four-day trip.
- Is Easter Monday a holiday in Argentina in 2026?
- No: Monday 6 April is not a nationwide public holiday. Thursday 2 April is a national holiday for the Malvinas commemoration and Friday 3 April is Good Friday, giving many workers a four-day Thursday-to-Sunday break. Check your school and workplace calendars separately.
- Is Friday 20 November 2026 a holiday in Argentina?
- No: the National Sovereignty Day holiday is observed on Monday 23 November in 2026. If you need Friday 20 November off, arrange annual leave or another agreed day off. The Monday makes 21–23 November a three-day weekend for many workers.
- Do Argentine public holidays mean everything is closed?
- No. Banks and public offices generally close on national holidays, while shops, restaurants and tourist services can operate on special hours. Transport may use a holiday timetable; check your actual operator and destination before setting out.
Sources
Related guides
- Bariloche family trip guide from Buenos Aires
For a Bariloche family trip from Buenos Aires, allow at least three nights and fly the roughly 2½-hour route rather than spend a day on a coach. Choose December to February for lakes and short walks, or July and August for the best chance of skiing; a family of four should plan roughly US$2,000–3,400 for four nights in summer (September 2026 planning budget).
- Buenos Aires weather by month: what living here feels like
Buenos Aires is hottest in January and February, with typical afternoon highs around 29–30°C, and coolest in June and July, around 15–16°C. Spring (September–November) and autumn (March–May) are the easiest seasons for walking; rain is possible throughout the year, not confined to a monsoon season.
- Argentina School Year 2026: Holidays and Starting Mid-Year
In Buenos Aires City, the 2026 school year started on 25 February for nursery and primary, and 2 March for secondary; it ends on 18 December. Winter break is 20–31 July, and children arriving from Britain can join during the year if a suitable place is available.