# Sri Lanka Public Holidays 2027 and 2026 - Poya Days, Bank Holidays, Long Weekends

Page: https://hirantha.me/tools/sri-lanka-holidays
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Updated: 2026-10-13

Every gazetted public, bank and mercantile holiday and Poya day, with the next holiday, long weekends and a working-day counter.

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The full list of Sri Lanka's gazetted holidays for 2027 and 2026, taken from the Central Bank's published bank-holiday lists: 25 dates in 2027, 12 of them Poya days. See how long until the next holiday, which weekends are long ones, count the working days between two dates, or add the holidays to your phone's calendar.

The dates come from the Central Bank of Sri Lanka's bank-holiday pages for 2026 and 2027, which follow the holidays gazetted under the Holidays Act, No. 29 of 1971. The 2027 list was published in Extraordinary Gazette No. 2493/05. Every date listed is a public holiday and a bank holiday; the ones marked mercantile are also holidays for mercantile employees. All Saturdays and Sundays are bank holidays.

A long weekend here is a run of three or more days in a row that are each a Saturday, a Sunday or a public holiday, with at least one holiday on a weekday. A holiday that falls on a Saturday or Sunday on its own does not make a longer break.

The working-day counter counts Monday to Friday between two dates, both included, and leaves out public holidays. It treats Saturday as a non-working day, as banks and the public service do, so adjust the result if you work a six-day week.

The calendar file is a standard .ics file of all-day events that opens in Google Calendar, Apple Calendar and Outlook. It is built in your browser.

Q: How many public holidays does Sri Lanka have in 2027?
A: The Central Bank's list for 2027 has 25 holiday dates, 18 of them on weekdays and 12 of them full moon Poya days. 8 are also marked as mercantile holidays.

Q: Is every Poya day a public holiday?
A: Yes. The gazette coverage for 2027 says full moon Poya days continue to be observed as both public and bank holidays throughout the year, and the Central Bank lists each one.

Q: What is a mercantile holiday?
A: A holiday that also applies to employees of mercantile (commercial) establishments. The list marks 8 of the 2027 dates as mercantile; the others are public and bank holidays. What counts as a paid holiday for you depends on your contract and the law that applies to your workplace, which the Department of Labour can confirm.

Q: What happens when a holiday falls on a Sunday?
A: The official lists show the holiday on the Sunday and do not name a substitute day. Ask your employer how it is treated; the calculator does not assume one.

Q: Can the dates change?
A: Yes. The official calendar says changes to public holidays are announced by notification in the Government Gazette, and dates that follow the moon, such as the Poya days and the Muslim festivals, are the ones that occasionally move. Reports in April 2026, for example, said the holiday for 2 May was moved to Sunday 31 May.

Q: When will the 2028 list be published?
A: It has not been published at the time of writing. The 2027 list was gazetted in July 2026, and this page will be updated when the 2028 list is out.

Sources: Central Bank of Sri Lanka: bank holidays for 2027 (https://www.cbsl.gov.lk/en/about/about-the-bank/bank-holidays-2027); Central Bank of Sri Lanka: bank holidays for 2026 (https://www.cbsl.gov.lk/en/about/about-the-bank/bank-holidays-2026); Daily Mirror: 2027 public and bank holidays gazetted (6 July 2026) (https://www.dailymirror.lk/breaking-news/2027-public-and-bank-holidays-gazetted/108-344844)

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