Taiwan to see nine extended holidays in 2026

Taipei, June 13 (CNA) Taiwan will have nine extended holidays in 2026, led by a nine-day Lunar New Year break, the Cabinet announced on Friday.

The nine-day Lunar New Year holiday in 2026 matches the length of the 2025 holiday, which featured six extended holidays.

The increase in extended holidays in 2026 is due to the Act on the Implementation of Commemorative and Festival Holidays, which was passed in early May with support from the opposition Kuomintang and Taiwan People's Party.

Under the new act, the day before Lunar New Year's Eve becomes a national holiday, and Labor Day will no longer be limited to blue-collar workers.

The legislation also designates Sept. 28 (Confucius' Birthday, also known as Teachers' Day), Oct. 25 (marking the end of Japanese colonial rule in 1945 and the anniversary of the Battle of Guningtou in Kinmen in 1949), and Dec. 25 (Constitution Day) as new national holidays.

The act came into effect following a presidential decree issued in late May, which decided that these three new holidays should come in the second half of 2025.

According to the latest calendar released by the Cabinet's Directorate-General of Personnel Administration, the other eight extended holidays in 2026 will include two four-day breaks and six three-day weekends.

The first four-day holiday will come in early April, combining Children's Day and Tomb Sweeping Festival. The second will fall in late September, covering Mid-Autumn Festival and Teachers' Day.

The calendar stipulates that when a national holiday falls on a Saturday, the make-up day will be on the preceding Friday, and when it falls on a Sunday, the make-up day will be the following Monday.

However, if a national holiday falls on a Thursday -- as in Constitution Day in 2026 -- no day off will be given on Friday to avoid the need for a make-up workday.

The administration emphasized that the new calendar applies only to public servants and employees of state-run enterprises.

Workers in other sectors -- such as police, firefighters, coast guard personnel, and military staff -- may adjust their schedules according to operational needs.