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Public Holidays and Bank Holidays for Kuwait

The list of Kuwait 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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24 Nov 2008 (WAM) The President of the Civil Service Commission (CSC) of Kuwait, Abdul Aziz Al-Zabin, announced the dates of the upcoming Eid al Adha (Feast of Sacrifice) public holidays in Kuwait. • 12 Sep 2008 (The Arab Times-Kuwait City) The President of the Civil Service Commission (CSC) of Kuwait, Abdul Aziz Al-Zabin, announced the dates of the upcoming Eid al Fitr (End of Ramadan) public holidays in Kuwait. • 17 Aug 2008 (Al Watan) A draft law presented by MPs Faisal Al-Mislem, Jamaan Al-Harbash, Ali Al-Omair and Abdullatif Al-Omairi, would add a new Article 23 to Amiri decree 15/1979, stipulating that the last ten days of Ramadan (September 21-30, in 2008) to be an official religious holiday. • 09 Jul 2008 (Kuwait News Agency-KUNA) The Civil Service Commission (CSC) has announced that, in accordance with Kuwaiti Cabinet decision number 252, Thursday, July 31, will be a public holiday on the occasion of the religious holiday marking the Prophet Mohammed's ascension to heaven. • 15 May 2008 (Arab Times) Following the death its Father Amir Sheikh Saad Al-Abdallah Al-Salem Al-Sabah, the Kuwaiti government has announced three days of national mourning which will be observed by both the public and private sectors. • 26 Mar 2008 (The Arab Times) The Civil Service Commission of Kuwait (CSC) gave details of the latest changes made to the official holidays list, clarifying which public holidays are to remain on their set date, and which public holidays were to move to the adjoining weekend. • 12 Feb 2008 (Kuwait Times + Arab Times) Deputy Premier and State Minister for Cabinet Affairs, Faisal Al-Hajj, announced that the Cabinet had approved Sunday, February 24, 2008, as a bridge public holiday because it falls between the weekend (Friday and Saturday) and the two official National Day public holidays of February 25 and 26. • 26 Dec 2007 (Kuwait Times) It was announced, earlier today, by Kuwait’s Civil Service Commission (CSC) Chairman Abdulaziz Al-Sebin that Tuesday, January 1, 2008, would be observed as the (Western) New Year public holiday, instead of the scheduled date of Sunday, January 6, 2008. • 20 Sep 2007 (Kuwait Times) Members of the Parliament of Kuwait renewed calls for the government to declare the last 10 days of the month of Ramadan as a public holiday to allow people to devote more time for worship. This quasi-annual request is likely to be rejected, as it has always been in the past. • 04 Aug 2007 (Arab Times) The Chairman of the Civil Service Commission issued a circular declaring Saturday as the weekly holiday, as well as the shift of some official public holidays, which fall on Saturday to Sunday. In the meanwhile the government has announced that the last public holiday before this change, the Prophet's Ascension, on August 10, would be moved to Saturday August 11, 2007. • 04 May 2007 (Arab Times Kuwait) The Chairman of the Kuwait Trade Union Federation has called, on Tuesday, for declaring May 1st an official day in Kuwait to honor the working class in line with the tradition in many other countries. • More News Updates For the full version of the summarized news items above, and older news items not displayed above, go to the Kuwait public holidays news and updates page, or worldwide public holidays news and updates page, or subscribe to one of our free email newsletters.

Weekends: Although many Muslim countries have changed their weekend days in 2005 and 2006, weekends in Kuwait will remain on Thursdays and Fridays, until Saturday, September 1st, 2007, on which date weekends in Kuwait will change to Friday and Saturday . • Mid-Week Public Holidays: There are special rules that govern the moving of the following four public holidays: Islamic New Year, The Prophet's Birthday, The Prophet's Ascension, and New Year's Day, according to a cabinet resolution in May 2001. • Other Sources of Information For information not covered here, see the following specialized websites: Central Bank of Kuwait (Kuwait 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 Kuwait, 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.

Religious Holidays : Public holidays in Kuwait that are based on certain religious calendars may be subject to local variations due to differing interpretations between different religious authorities, or to seemingly arbitrary changes in the date a holiday is celebrated because it conflicts with another holiday that is based on another calendar, or because the day of the holiday is deemed inauspicious (bad luck). To find out more about these uncertainties, see the footnote below, if any, for each specific religion.

Muslim Holidays : Muslim bank holidays, legal holidays and public holidays for Kuwait were evaluated using the Umm al-Qura Calendar of Saudi Arabia which is used in Saudi Arabia and in most of the Persian Gulf States. Holidays may occur a day later in countries outside the Gulf region. The sunrises, sunsets, moon phases, moonrises and moonsets used in these calculations are based on the location of Mecca (latitude 21.42°N, longitude, 39.82°E, GMT+3 hours, no summer time rules). For more details on Muslim holidays, see Muslim Calendar Holidays. For Salat (prayer times) calculations, see our Freeware page.

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 Kuwait, 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 Kuwait, before planning any trip to Kuwait. For last-minute updates to worldwide public holidays, visit our blog or subscribe to our free email newsletters.