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Public Holidays and Bank Holidays for Belgium

The list of Belgium bank holidays, national holidays and public holidays for 2008, comes from the Q++ Worldwide Public Holidays Database, the professional source of international public holidays long trusted by the world's foremost diary publishers. The information on this page is provided for private, non-professional, use. Qualified professionals can license data for 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, and beyond. For details, please visit our licensing information page or

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29 Jan 2008 (Het Laatste Nieuws + RTL Info + Le Vif) Labour Minister, Josly Piette, announced that May 2, 2008, will be the official day off to compensate for the conjunction of Labour Day and Ascension Day in 2008, unless a specific other date is agreed to. In addition, federal civil servants and those contractually assimilated to civil servants, will get Monday, November 10, 2008, as a one-off bridge public holiday. • 10 Jan 2008 (De Standaard) Belgium's interim Federal Minister of Labor, Josly Piette, announced yesterday that May 2, 2008, will not be an official public holiday, thereby cancelling last April's decision by his predecessor, Peter Vanvelthoven, taken to compensate for the fact that, in 2008, both May Day and Ascension fall on the same date. May 2, 2008, Ascension Friday, will therefore revert to its usual status as a banks-only holiday. • 24 Apr 2007 (RTL Infos) Belgium's Minister of Labor has decided to make Friday May 2, 2008 a public holiday in Belgium as compensation for the fact that both May Day and Ascension fall on the same date. • 18 Jan 2007 (Euronews) Belgium has set a date for its next federal election: June 10, the same day as the first round of parliamentary elections in neighbouring France. • More News Updates For the full version of the summarized news items above, and older news items not displayed above, go to the Belgium public holidays news and updates page, or worldwide public holidays news and updates page, or subscribe to one of our free email newsletters.

Governing Law: Official public holidays in Belgium are regulated by the "Loi du 4 janvier 1974 relative aux jours fériés" as modified on June 1, 1994, and amended in 2003 (Arrêté royal du 11 juillet 2003 modifiant la loi du 4 janvier 1974 relative aux jours fériés) to include civil servants. • Weekend Public Holidays: Contrary to what is often reported, when public holidays coincide with an official non-working day (e.g. a Saturday or a Sunday), employees are not entitled to a replacement day off. That is to say, public holidays that occur on a weekend remain on that date. • Other Sources of Information For information not covered here, see the following specialized websites: National Bank of Belgium (Belgium central bank), ASI Hot Spots (security-related world events: terrorist threats, political strife, strikes, criminal activity, aviation incidents and health outbreaks), CIA World Factbook (maps, demographic and economic statistics), Copp Clark (financial markets' trading hours, settlement holidays and currency non-clearing days), and the IFES Election Guide (information covering upcoming elections, referenda, electoral structures and past voter participation).

Observance : Any entry in the Observance column indicates that, in Belgium, the holiday may be regional or non-official or limited to certain religious and/or linguistic groups, or begin at a time other than midnight. Note that religious holidays are included only if they are national public holidays, or if the national labour code has specific holiday allowances for employees of specific religions. For more information, see our pages on the religious calendars of the world. Aft=Afternoon, Arm=Armenian, Bah=Bahai, Bnk=Banks and most financial institutions, Bud=Buddhist, Cat=Catholic, Chr=Christian, Cop=Coptic, Eve=Evening, Gov=Government services and civil servants, Hin=Hindu, Jew=Jewish, Lin=Linguistic or ethnic groups, Mor=Morning, Mun=Municipal, Mus=Muslim, Orth=Orthodox, Othr=Miscellaneous partial observances (usually described in the Additional Information section of this page), Prt=Protestant, Reg=Regional, Rel=Other Religion, Sch=Schools and universities, Sik=Sikh.

Disclaimer
In many parts of the world, holidays are subject to arbitrary, last minute, changes by local authorities. While every effort has been made to present an accurate list of 2008 bank holidays, legal holidays and public holidays for Belgium, we cannot accept any responsibility for any error or omission in the data presented above. You are therefore advised to verify the above dates with the embassy or consulate of Belgium, before planning any trip to Belgium. For last-minute updates to worldwide public holidays, visit our blog or subscribe to our free email newsletters.