Orthodox calendar for holidays in Romania
Romania has different holidays and public holidays than the UK and in the 5 years that we lived in Romania, the days off often came as a surprise to us. So here is a list for 2024. In Romania, the Orthodox calendar is followed for Christian holidays such as Easter, which already provides a number of other holidays. Christmas is the same.
Birthday and Romanian name day’s
In addition, some Romanians celebrate a birthday twice a year. One on the day they were born and on the day of their name’s birthday. Our experience is that the birthday is often celebrated in the family and with friends. The name day is an extra opportunity for women to receive flowers or something similar and for men to organize a BBQ! With a favorable name, your name day can also be an extra day off. Here are the biggest name days:
St. John (Sfantul Ion) – January 7,
St. George (Sfantul Gheorghe) – April 23
St. Peter & Paul (Sfintii Petru si Paul) – June 29
St. Mary (Sfanta Maria) – August 15
St. Michael (Sfantul Mihai) – November 8
St. Nicholas (Sfantul Nicolae) – December 6
Flowers and Children’s Day
In addition, women are regularly surprised with flowers. For example, on the first day of school, usually September 1. Then the teachers receive flowers. But also on International Women’s Day (March 8) or Teacher’s Day (October 5). There is also Children’s Day (June 1) in Romania, a day when everyone is free. The parents also have a day of form work, so there is something fun to do with the children.
Below are the days off per month:
January
January 1 & 2, New Year’s Day and the day after New Year’s Day are both official days off. Nice start to the year!
January 6, 3 kings
January 7, John the Baptist
January 24, Small association day, the big one comes in December. This day celebrates the coming together of the principalities of Romania in January 24, 1859
May
May 1, Labor Day
May 3, Good Friday
May 5, Easter Saturday
May 6, Easter Sunday
June
June 1, Children’s Day
June 23, Pentecost
June 24, Maundy Monday
August
August 15, Ascension of Mary
November
November 30, Saint Andrew the Apostle
December
December 1, Big national association day. The unity of December 1, 1918 is celebrated.
December 25, Christmas – Christmas Day
December 26, Christmas – Saint Stephen’s Day
Other celebrated days that are not an official holidays
February
February 24, Dragobete, sort of like Valentine’s Day. A very typical Romanian holiday that by a lot of people is viewed as a part of the culture and preferred to be celebrated instead of Valentines day.
March
March 1, Mărțișorul, spring is celebrated. This is specially celebrated with red small bracelets.
March 8, International Women’s Day. Women often receive flowers or chocolate from male colleagues.
June
June 1, Children’s Day
June 13, Ascension Day
June 26, flag day
July
July 29, national anthem day
December
December 6, Sinterklaas. Children get a lot of sweets that evening, often chocolate.
December 8, Constitution Day.
Holidays and days off in Romania are also taken differently than in Western Europe. Romanians usually go on vacation for a few days or a week. Not like in the Western European countries where people go in the summer for 2 or 3 weeks. Also, around the official days off, 1 or 2 days are often taken off to get a little more time off.
Contact Camping Orange Valley
Because of the holidays in the beginning of May we hope to open by that time. But we are not sure yet, it also depends on the weather. If you want to visit us in this time, please contact us.
Good luck with your preparations and if you have any questions about these Romanian Holidays for 2024, please leave a comment and we will get back to you.