French school and public holiday dates 2018

Pays Basque, one of my favourite French holiday destinations

Happy New Year. January is here once more and as I’ve just posted the deposit cheque for a self-catering holiday in the Basque area of France later in the year, I thought it the perfect time to remind you of the public holidays, school holidays and other notable dates (and how they are celebrated) in France this year.

Whether you are new to life in France, or just wanting to plan your holiday here in the quiet weeks outside of the French school holidays, I hope you find this blog useful. 

Please feel free to share this post with your French loving friends and family.

Public Holidays in France 2018

1^st January, New Years Day, jour de l’an

1^st April, Easter Sunday, Pâques look out for flying bells (see here)

2^nd April, Easter Monday, lundi de Pâques (note there is no Good Friday holiday in France unless you live in Alsace or Moselle areas)

1^st May, Fête du Travail

8^th May, Victory in Europe Day, Victoire 1945

10^th May, Ascension Day, Ascension (note in 2018 the schools will not have an extra day off on Friday 11^th May for the bridge pont)

21^st May, Pentecost Monday, lundi de Pentecôte

14^th July, Fête Nationale (a Saturday this year)

15^th August, Assumption Day, Assomption

1^st November, AllSaint's Day, Toussaint

11^th November, Armistice Day, Armistice 1918 (a Sunday this year)

25^th December, Christmas Day, Jour de Noël (note there is no Boxing Day holiday in France on 26^th unless you live in Alsace or Moselle areas)

With the exception of the holidays linked to Easter: Easter Monday, Ascension Day and Pentecost Monday, the above dates are the same every year and the holiday is always observed on the actual date rather than being moved to the nearest Monday as the UK would do. Public holidays can therefore fall on weekends; to make up for this it is not uncommon for people to faire le pont (make a bridge) if a holiday falls on a Thursday (Ascension Day and All Saint’s Day) or a Tuesday  (this year: 1^st May, 8^th May and Christmas Day), by taking off the Friday or Monday giving themselves a four-day weekend. This will be part of their annual holiday entitlement, or the hours need to be made up, so while most businesses will be open on bridge days, some staff shortages can be expected. It is worth noting that in many areas of rural France, although some opening hours is becoming more common, most shops are likely to be either closed or only open in the mornings on public holidays.

Other dates to note:

6^th January, Epiphany, celebrated in France with a Galette des Rois (see here)

10^th January, winter sales begin, soldes d’hiver, sales are regulated in France and the winter sales run from 10^th January to 12^th February 2018

2^nd February Candlemas day, Chandeleur, celebrated in France with pancakes (see here)

13^th February, Shrove Tuesday, Mardi Gras when carnival time begins in France and pancakes and beignets (similar to doughnuts) are eaten.

25^th March, clocks spring forward an hour to Central European Summertime

25^th March, Palm Sunday, Rameaux a day where our local boulangeries bake something different (see here)

25^th May, Neighbours' Day, fêtes des voisins (in 2017 9 million French celebrated, including our village see here)

27^th May, Mother’s Day, fêtes des mères

17^th June, Father’s Day, fêtes des pères

21^st June, fête de la musique, world music day, celebrated here with free concerts in towns and villages all over France

27^th June, summer sales begin, Soldes d’été, and will run until 14^th August 2018

7^th to 29^th July, Le Tour de France starts in La Roche-sur-Yon, Vendee and finishes in Paris three weeks later

28^th October, clocks go back an hour to Central European Time

School holiday zones in France

School Holidays

In France the schools are split into three zones and most of the holidays are staggered so not everyone is trying to hit the ski slopes or beaches at the same time, although be prepared for extra traffic on the roads on all Saturdays during the school holidays, or better still avoid driving on these days.

Here are the dates for 2018:

The winter holiday is from 10^th February to 11^th March.

Zone A gets the first two weeks, Zone C the middle two and Zone B the last two.

The spring holiday is from 7^th April to 13^th May.

Zone A gets the first two weeks, Zone C 14^th to 30^th April, part of Zone B 21^st April to 7^th May and the remaining departments of Zone B (Caen, Nantes, Orléans-Tours, Rennes and Rouen) the last two weeks.

The summer holiday for all zones is from 7^th July until 3^rd September.

The October holiday for all zones is from 20^th October to 4^th November.

The Christmas holiday for all zones is from 22^nd December to 6^th January 2019.

Wherever you visit in France this year, I hope you have a great holiday. 

You can also read more about French Holidays and Traditions in the great book by Margo Lestz.