right|thumb|250px|French etching from 1789 depicting the [[storming of the Bastille, commemorated as Bastille Day]]
There are eleven official public holidays in France, of which three are movable days which always fall on a weekday. The Alsace region and the Moselle department observe two additional days. These holidays do not shift when they fall during a weekend,
Public holidays in France
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Date !! English name !! Local name !! Remarks
|-
| 1 January || New Year's Day || ||
|-
| moveable || Good Friday || || Friday before Easter Sunday. Alsace and Moselle only.
|-
| moveable || Easter Monday || || Monday after Easter Sunday (one day after Easter Sunday)
|-
| 1 May || Labour Day || ||
|-
| 8 May || Victory Day || || End of hostilities in Europe in World War II
|-
| moveable || Ascension Day || || Thursday, 39 days after Easter Sunday
|-
| moveable || Whit Monday || || Monday after Pentecost (50 days after Easter), observed only in some businesses, see notes
|-
| 14 July || Bastille Day || || French National Day, commemorates the 1789 Storming of the Bastille and the 1790 Feast of the Federation.
|-
| 15 August || Assumption Day || || Marks the Catholic feast of the Assumption of Mary, the taking up of Mary, mother of Jesus into heaven, body and soul.
|-
| 1 November || All Saints' Day || ||
|-
| 11 November || Armistice Day || || End of the First World War
|-
| 25 December || Christmas || || Newspapers are not published. Pubs, restaurants, shops, etc. closed all day by law.
|-
| 26 December || Saint Stephen's Day || || Alsace and Moselle only.
- Good Friday ()
- Abolition of slavery: 27 May.
French Guiana
- Abolition of slavery: 10 June.
Martinique
- Abolition of slavery: 22 May.
New Caledonia
- Citizenship Day (): 24 September.
French Polynesia
- Missionary Day (): 5 March.
- Matari'i (): 31 November.
Réunion
- Réunion Freedom Day (; ) 20 December.
Saint Barthélemy
- Abolition of slavery: 9 October.
Saint Martin
- Abolition of slavery: 28 May.
Wallis and Futuna
- Feast of Saint Peter Chanel: 28 April.
- Festival of the Territory: 29 July.
Notes
Note: French law dictates that work should stop, but be paid only for the (May Day, 1 May), except in industries where it is infeasible to stop working. The rest of the public holidays are listed in statute law, but law does not dictate that work should stop; however a leave from work may be granted by the employer or by , an agreement between employers' and employees' trade unions.
In 2005, French prime minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin removed Pentecost (Whit) Monday's status as a public holiday. This decision was eventually overruled by French courts in 2008. Employers are free to decide whether to make Whit Monday a day off or not.