Holidays and celebrations in Russia in 2026 and 2027

If you’re planning a trip to Russia in 2026 or 2027, you’ll want to know the official public holiday calendar before locking in your dates. In 2026 Russians get 12 consecutive days off between New Year and Orthodox Christmas (from 31 December 2025 to 11 January 2026), and in 2027 the New Year break stretches to 11 days (from 31 December 2026 to 10 January 2027).

In this article I walk you through, year by year, when the official holidays fall, how they affect your trip (museums, restaurants, transport, government offices and consulates) and which popular celebrations like Maslenitsa, Orthodox Easter or Cosmonautics Day might overlap with your dates. The 2026 information is confirmed by Russian Government Decree No. 1466 of 24 September 2025. The 2027 dates come from the calendar presented by the Russian Ministry of Labor (Mintrud) in May 2026 and will be officially approved between September and October 2026.

How the Russian public holiday calendar works

The Russian work calendar is governed by Article 112 of the Labor Code (Trudovoi Kodeks), which sets eight non-working national holidays. Each year the government issues a decree with the day-off transfers (perenos) to keep holidays from falling on a Saturday or Sunday and to build long weekend “bridges”.

The general rule is simple: when a holiday falls on a Saturday or Sunday, the day off shifts to the following Monday. And when there’s room, the government moves Saturdays in January to other strategic dates (like the last day of the year) to extend the holidays. That’s how Russians end up with a 4-day “bridge” in November or a 12-day one in January.

On top of the national holidays, every city has its own City Day. Moscow celebrates it on the first or second weekend of September (in 2026 the city turns 879; in 2027, 880). St. Petersburg always celebrates on May 27 (323 years in 2026; 324 in 2027). Expect parades, open-air concerts and fireworks.

Official Russian holidays in 2026

Government Decree No. 1466 of 24 September 2025 set only two transfers for 2026: Saturday January 3 shifts to Friday January 9, and Sunday January 4 shifts to Thursday December 31. With those tweaks, Russians get 12 consecutive days off for New Year (from 31 December 2025 to 11 January 2026) and five three-day “bridges” throughout the year.

• January 1 to 8, 2026: New Year and Orthodox Christmas holidays (with the bridge stretched to January 11 thanks to the weekend). Total: 12 consecutive non-working days starting from 31 December 2025.
• February 21 to 23, 2026 (Saturday to Monday): Defender of the Fatherland Day. Three consecutive days off.
• March 7 to 9, 2026 (Saturday to Monday): International Women’s Day. Three consecutive days off.
• May 1 to 3, 2026 (Friday to Sunday): Spring and Labor Day. Three days in a row.
• May 9 to 11, 2026 (Saturday to Monday): Victory Day. Three days in a row, with the big military parade in Red Square on May 9.
• June 12 to 14, 2026 (Friday to Sunday): Russia Day. Three days in a row.
• November 4, 2026 (Wednesday): National Unity Day. A single midweek holiday.
• December 31, 2026 (Thursday): non-working day by transfer, kicking off the 2027 New Year holidays.

Official Russian holidays in 2027

In early May 2026, the Ministry of Labor (Mintrud) released the draft decree on the 2027 transfers. It still has to be officially approved by the government between September and October 2026, but barring minor tweaks, this is the calendar you’ll see.

Three transfers are proposed for 2027: Saturday January 2 shifts to Friday November 5, Sunday January 3 shifts to Friday December 31, and Saturday February 20 shifts to Monday February 22. With these changes, Russians get 11 consecutive days off for New Year, five three-day bridges and one long four-day bridge in November.

• January 1 to 8, 2027: New Year and Orthodox Christmas holidays, with the bridge stretched to Sunday January 10. Total: 11 consecutive days starting from 31 December 2026.
• February 21 to 23, 2027 (Sunday to Tuesday): Defender of the Fatherland Day. Three days in a row (with Saturday 20 as a working day by transfer).
• March 6 to 8, 2027 (Saturday to Monday): International Women’s Day. Three days in a row.
• May 1 to 3, 2027 (Saturday to Monday): Spring and Labor Day. Three days in a row.
• May 8 to 10, 2027 (Saturday to Monday): Victory Day. Three days in a row, with the military parade on Sunday May 9.
• June 12 to 14, 2027 (Saturday to Monday): Russia Day. Three days in a row.
• November 4 to 7, 2027 (Thursday to Sunday): National Unity Day. Four consecutive days off, the longest bridge of the year outside of New Year.
• December 31, 2027 (Friday): non-working day by transfer.

Each holiday in detail: history and what you’ll find as a traveler

New Year and Orthodox Christmas (January 1 to 8)

New Year (Nóvi God) is by far the most important festivity of the year in Russia — way bigger than Christmas. New Year’s Eve is a family affair with a long banquet, a toast at 11:55 pm during the president’s address, and the Kremlin chimes at midnight. Russians don’t work from January 1 to 6, and the break extends through January 7 and 8 because of Orthodox Christmas.

Orthodox Christmas is celebrated on January 7 because the Russian Orthodox Church still follows the Julian calendar, which runs 13 days behind the Gregorian one. The night of January 6 is Christmas Eve, with the midnight liturgy in churches and kutia (a ritual wheat-and-honey dessert) on the table. Many Russians also celebrate “Old New Year” on the night of January 13 to 14, though it’s no longer an official holiday.

If you travel to Russia between December 31 and January 8, keep in mind that shops and shopping malls open as usual, so do restaurants and museums, and the cities look stunning under the holiday lights. What closes are government offices, banks (reduced hours) and Russian consulates abroad. I cover everything in my guide to what to do in Moscow during Christmas and New Year.

February 23: Defender of the Fatherland Day

This date commemorates the first mass recruitment into the Red Army in Petrograd and Moscow in 1918, during the Russian Civil War. Originally called Red Army Day, it was renamed Soviet Army and Navy Day in 1949, and has carried its current name since 1995.

In everyday language it’s known as “Men’s Day”. Women give small gifts to their husbands, fathers and sons, and there are parades and ceremonies honoring veterans. It’s the symmetrical counterpart to International Women’s Day on March 8.

• February 23, 2026: Monday (bridge from February 21 to 23)
• February 23, 2027: Tuesday (bridge from February 21 to 23, with Saturday 20 as a working day)

March 8: International Women’s Day

March 8 in Russia is lived with an intensity that catches travelers off guard. Men give flowers (especially tulips and mimosas) to every woman around them: partner, mother, daughters, coworkers, teachers, neighbors. Flower shops open at dawn and prices skyrocket.

The holiday has Soviet roots: after the October Revolution, feminist Alexandra Kollontai pushed March 8 into the Soviet Union’s official calendar, though as a working day. In 1965, a decree of the Supreme Soviet turned it into a non-working day and it has stayed that way ever since.

• March 8, 2026: Sunday (bridge from March 7 to 9)
• March 8, 2027: Monday (bridge from March 6 to 8)

May 1: Spring and Labor Day

Russia celebrated Labor Day for the first time in 1890, even before the Soviet Union existed. It was originally called International Workers’ Solidarity Day, and in 1997 it was renamed Spring and Labor Day.

It’s a date heavy with symbolism: for decades it was the stage for big workers’ parades with communist slogans. The tradition lives on, especially through the Communist Party, although the atmosphere has cooled a lot since Soviet times. For most Russians today, it’s mainly the moment to kick off dacha season and plant the vegetable garden.

• May 1, 2026: Friday (bridge from May 1 to 3)
• May 1, 2027: Saturday (bridge from May 1 to 3)

May 9: Victory Day

May 9, along with New Year, is the most emotionally charged holiday on the Russian calendar. It celebrates the Soviet Union’s victory over Nazi Germany in World War II, known in Russia as the Great Patriotic War. The civilian and military casualty figures (around 27 million dead) mean that virtually every Russian family has an ancestor to honor on this day.

The military parade in Red Square is the centerpiece, attended by the president, the military top brass and the handful of veterans still alive. At 10 pm there are fireworks in the main cities. If you travel to Moscow or St. Petersburg on those days, you’ll experience a one-of-a-kind atmosphere — but also massive traffic closures, reinforced police checkpoints and many access points to the city center shut down from early morning.

• May 9, 2026: Saturday (bridge from May 9 to 11)
• May 9, 2027: Sunday (bridge from May 8 to 10)

June 12: Russia Day

Russia Day commemorates the Declaration of State Sovereignty of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, approved on June 12, 1990. In practice, it’s the country’s “National Day”: the equivalent of July 4 in the United States or July 14 in France.

It’s a relatively young holiday that has settled into street concerts, food fairs, sports competitions and exhibition openings. In Moscow, the action concentrates around Red Square, Gorky Park, Zaryadye and Tverskaya Street. At night there are fireworks at several points across the city.

• June 12, 2026: Friday (bridge from June 12 to 14)
• June 12, 2027: Saturday (bridge from June 12 to 14)

November 4: National Unity Day

It commemorates the popular uprising of 1612 led by Kuzma Minin and Prince Dmitri Pozharsky, which expelled the forces of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth from Moscow and ended the Time of Troubles (Smutnoe Vremya). Between 1613 and 1917 it was already celebrated as Moscow Liberation Day; after the Soviet collapse, the Interreligious Council of Russia proposed reviving the date in 2004, and it has been an official holiday since 2005.

The holiday replaced the old November 7 (anniversary of the October Revolution), which stopped being a public holiday. Many Russians still see the swap as an attempt to rewrite the symbolic calendar. In practice, November 4 is marked by Orthodox masses, religious processions and civic ceremonies.

• November 4, 2026: Wednesday (1 day holiday)
• November 4 to 7, 2027: Thursday to Sunday (a 4-day bridge!)

Other important celebrations (non-holidays)

Beyond the official holidays, Russia has celebrations that aren’t non-working days but still shape the social and religious calendar. If your trip overlaps with any of them, you’ll feel the difference on the streets.

Maslenitsa: the “blinis week”

Maslenitsa is the Slavic pagan festival that bids farewell to winter, absorbed by the Orthodox Church as Cheese Week (Sirnaya sedmitsa) or “Butter Week” — the last week before Lent. It lasts seven days and ends on the Sunday before Clean Monday (the start of the great fast). It’s the Russian equivalent of Carnival.

All week long Russians eat blinis (thin pancakes) with every imaginable topping: melted butter, smetana (sour cream), honey, jam, red caviar, smoked salmon. The streets fill with markets, folk shows, traditional games and, on the last day (Forgiveness Sunday), the symbolic burning of a straw effigy that represents winter.

• Maslenitsa 2026: from Monday February 16 to Sunday February 22
• Maslenitsa 2027: from Monday March 8 to Sunday March 14

Orthodox Easter

Easter (Paskha) is the main religious festival on the Orthodox calendar. It’s tied to the Julian calendar and to the first full moon after the spring equinox, so the date shifts each year and rarely coincides with Catholic Easter. In 2026 the two dates don’t match: Catholics celebrate on April 5, Orthodox on April 12. In 2027 they also differ: March 28 (Catholic) versus May 2 (Orthodox).

Although neither Good Friday nor Easter Monday are official holidays in Russia, on the night from Saturday to Sunday most churches hold the midnight liturgy with a procession around the temple, candle in hand. The Sunday family table features painted eggs, kulich (the Orthodox panettone) and paskha (a pyramid-shaped curd cheese dessert). It’s one of the most beautiful moments of the year to experience Russian spirituality.

• Orthodox Easter 2026: April 12 (Sunday)
• Orthodox Easter 2027: May 2 (Sunday)

April 12: Cosmonautics Day

April 12 commemorates the first manned spaceflight in history, completed in 1961 by Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin aboard the Vostok 1 spacecraft. Although it isn’t a public holiday, it carries huge symbolic weight: museums, planetariums and space centers run special programs.

In Moscow, it’s the perfect day to visit the Museum of Cosmonautics. In 2026 it falls on a Sunday (overlapping with Orthodox Easter); in 2027 it falls on a Monday.

July 8: Day of Family, Love and Fidelity

Also known as Saints Peter and Fevronia Day, it was introduced in 2008 as an “Orthodox answer” to Valentine’s Day. Its symbol is the white daisy (romashka) and it’s promoted as an alternative to the “commercial” February 14, although most Russians celebrate both dates without much fuss. In 2026 it falls on a Wednesday, and in 2027 on a Thursday.

September 1: Knowledge Day

September 1 is the first day of the school year in Russia and in many former Soviet republics. The streets fill with children and teenagers dressed in their finest clothes, carrying a bouquet of flowers for the teacher. Symbolically, it marks the end of summer and the start of autumn, which arrives early in Russia. In 2026 it falls on a Tuesday, and in 2027 on a Wednesday.

City holidays: Moscow and St. Petersburg

Moscow City Day

City Day (Den Goroda) is celebrated on the first or second weekend of September. The mayor sets the date by decree each year — there’s no fixed date. In 2026 Moscow turns 879 years old and in 2027, 880. Hundreds of events spread across the city: concerts in Red Square, shows at VDNH and Zaryadye, the pedestrianization of Tverskaya Street, food markets and fireworks at several points. The exact date is announced in summer on mos.ru.

St. Petersburg City Day

St. Petersburg, on the other hand, does have a fixed date: May 27, the anniversary of the laying of the first stone of the Peter and Paul Fortress by Peter the Great in 1703. In 2026 the city turns 323 and in 2027, 324. The program includes concerts in Palace Square, entertainment along Nevsky Avenue, regattas on the Neva and fireworks.

How public holidays affect your trip

Here’s the breakdown by type of service:

• Restaurants, cafés and shops: open as usual, even on January 1. The big shopping malls (GUM, TSUM, Aviapark, MEGA) keep their regular hours.
• Museums: most of them open on holidays. The big ones (Kremlin, Hermitage, Tretyakov, Russian Museum) usually close one day a week — typically Monday or Tuesday — regardless of the holiday. Check the website before you go.
• Public transport: runs normally. The Moscow and St. Petersburg metro never stop. On the last day of the year some lines extend service until 2 am.
• Banks and currency exchange offices: close or reduce hours during the long holidays (January, May, June). ATMs are always working.
• Red Square and central Moscow: closed to traffic on May 1, May 9 and June 12 because of the parades. Access to the Kremlin may be restricted around those dates. Check the day before on the official Kremlin website.
• Russian consulates abroad: closed on Russian holidays and on the host country’s holidays. Important for visa applications: plan with extra margin, especially during the first half of January and the May bridges.
• Hotels and flights: prices skyrocket around New Year’s Eve, Victory Day and, in St. Petersburg, the White Nights (June-July). If your trip falls on those dates, book three or four months ahead through the flight search engines that actually work for Russia.