Religious Holidays 2026: The Complete Guide to 10 Amazing Global Dates

Reading time: ~9 minutes  |  Category: Calendar & Culture  |  Dates verified against multiple 2026 calendars

Religious holidays 2026 span every month of the calendar, from Ramadan and Easter in the spring to Diwali and Hanukkah at year's end. Whether you're planning school breaks, scheduling around client meetings, or simply want to send a well timed greeting to a friend of another faith, knowing when these dates fall and what they mean makes the year easier to navigate. This guide walks through the major religious holidays 2026 across Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Sikhism, with a handy reference table you can bookmark.

1. Christian Holidays 2026

The Christian calendar in 2026 centers on Easter, which moves earlier or later each year because it's calculated from the first full moon after the spring equinox. In 2026, Western churches observe Easter on April 5, while Orthodox churches, which follow a different calendar, celebrate on April 12.

• Epiphany: January 6
• Ash Wednesday (start of Lent): February 18
• Palm Sunday: March 29
• Good Friday: April 3
• Easter Sunday: April 5
• Orthodox Easter (Pascha): April 12
• Pentecost: May 24
• Assumption of Mary: August 15
• All Saints' Day: November 1
• First Sunday of Advent: November 29
• Christmas Day: December 25

Because Ash Wednesday falls on February 18 in 2026, Lent's 40 days lead directly into a fairly early Easter, which is worth noting if your organization plans spring events around the holiday.

2. Islamic Holidays 2026

Islamic holidays follow the lunar Hijri calendar, so each date shifts about 10 to 11 days earlier every solar year, and exact start dates depend on local moon sighting. Based on current lunar projections for 2026:

• Lailat al Miraj: January 16
• Lailat al Bara'ah: February 3
• Ramadan begins: February 18
• Laylat al Qadr: March 16
• Eid al Fitr: March 20
• Day of Arafah: May 25
• Eid al Adha: May 26 to 27
• Islamic New Year (Hijra): June 16
• Day of Ashura: June 26
• Mawlid al Nabi: August 25

Ramadan 2026 runs from February 18 through March 19, ending with the three day celebration of Eid al Fitr, one of the two most widely observed holidays in Islam, alongside Eid al Adha in late May.

3. Jewish Holidays 2026

Jewish holidays also follow a lunar based calendar and begin at sundown the evening before the listed civil date, a detail worth remembering if you're scheduling around them.

• Purim: March 2 to 3
• Passover (Pesach): April 1 to 9
• Shavuot: May 21 to 23
• Rosh Hashanah (New Year): September 11 to 13
• Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement): September 20 to 21
• Sukkot: September 25 to October 2
• Simchat Torah: October 3 to 4
• Hanukkah: December 4 to 12

The stretch from Rosh Hashanah through Simchat Torah in September and early October is the busiest period on the Jewish calendar, commonly called the High Holy Days, so many workplaces and schools plan around this window well in advance.

4. Hindu Holidays 2026

• Maha Shivaratri: February 15
• Holi: March 4
• Ram Navami: March 26
• Raksha Bandhan: August 28
• Krishna Janmashtami: September 4
• Navratri: October 11 to 19
• Dussehra (Vijayadashami): October 20
• Diwali (Festival of Lights): November 8

Diwali is the standout date for most calendars and workplaces that track Hindu observances. In 2026 it lands on a Sunday, which shifts related celebrations to the surrounding weekend in many communities.

5. Buddhist Holidays 2026

• Vesak (Buddha Day): early May (exact date varies by country and tradition; several Theravada calendars place it around May 1)
• Bodhi Day: December 8

Vesak, marking the Buddha's birth, enlightenment, and passing, is the most significant date in the Buddhist calendar, though the exact day varies more than most other faith traditions depending on region and school of Buddhism, so it is always worth double checking with a local temple or national holiday list.

6. Sikh Holidays 2026

• Birthday of Guru Gobind Singh Sahib: January 5
• Vaisakhi: April 14
• Guru Nanak Gurpurab: November 24

Vaisakhi, which marks the founding of the Khalsa in 1699, is typically the most widely celebrated Sikh holiday of the year, observed with processions and community meals (langar) at gurdwaras worldwide.

7. Full Religious Holidays 2026 Table

Dates compiled and checked against CalendarLabs' Religious Holidays calendar and university multifaith calendars. Islamic and lunar dates are projections and may shift by a day depending on regional moon sighting.

8. How to Plan Around Religious Holidays

If you manage a workplace, school, or community calendar, a few practical habits go a long way:

1. Mark multi day holidays as ranges, not single dates. Passover, Sukkot, and Ramadan all span a week or more, so a single day flag on a calendar undersells the impact on attendance and scheduling.
2. Remember sundown starts. Jewish and some Islamic observances begin the evening before the civil date, so plan evening event scheduling accordingly.
3. Build in a buffer for lunar dates. Because Islamic and some Buddhist dates depend on moon sighting, treat the listed date as a best estimate and confirm locally as the date approaches.
4. Ask, don't assume. Observance varies widely even within the same faith, so a quick, respectful check in with the people involved beats guessing.

Related Reading

For a deeper look at how Ramadan and Eid are observed, see our related guide on Ramadan and Islamic Holidays on IslamicInfoCenter.com, and for the full, continuously updated calendar behind the Islamic dates above, see CalendarLabs' Religious Holidays hub.

FAQ: Religious Holidays 2026