December 2026 Holidays, Festivals and Bank Holidays: Full List

December is short on national holidays and long on small closures. Banks, schools and offices all plan around a handful of dates, so here is the whole month in one place: the bank holidays announced by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the one gazetted holiday, the festivals and fasting days, and the days that matter to farmers. Dates are as of 31 October 2026.

The long bank closure to plan for

25, 26 and 27 December line up this year. Christmas is on Friday 25 December and is a bank holiday in every RBI region. Saturday 26 December is the fourth Saturday of the month, which is a bank holiday everywhere. Sunday 27 December is the weekly off. So branches across India stay shut for three days in a row. Finish any cheque, cash or branch work before 24 December.

Important dates at a glance

Date	Day	What	Type
1 Dec	Tuesday	World AIDS Day; Kalabhairav Jayanti	Observance, festival
4 Dec	Friday	Utpanna Ekadashi	Vrat
12 Dec	Saturday	Second Saturday	Bank holiday
14 Dec	Monday	Vivah Panchami	Festival
16 Dec	Wednesday	Dhanu Sankranti	Festival
20 Dec	Sunday	Gita Jayanti and Mokshada Ekadashi	Festival, vrat
22 Dec	Tuesday	Shortest day of the year	Astronomy
23 Dec	Wednesday	Kisan Diwas; Dattatreya Jayanti and Margashirsha Purnima; Hazarat Ali's Birthday	Observance, festival
25 Dec	Friday	Christmas	Gazetted holiday, bank holiday
26 Dec	Saturday	Fourth Saturday	Bank holiday

Bank holidays in December 2026

Banks are closed on the second and fourth Saturdays of every month, which this month are 12 December and 26 December, and they are also normally closed on Sundays: 6, 13, 20 and 27 December. In addition, RBI lists these holidays under the Negotiable Instruments Act. Most of them apply only to one city:

Date	Day	Holiday	Where
1 Dec	Tuesday	Indigenous Faith Day, State Inauguration Day	Itanagar, Kohima
3 Dec	Thursday	Feast of St. Francis Xavier	Panaji
9, 10 and 11 Dec	Wednesday to Friday	Losoong, Namsoong	Gangtok
12 Dec	Saturday	Death anniversary of Pa Togan Nengminja Sangma	Shillong
18 Dec	Friday	Death anniversary of U SoSo Tham	Shillong
19 Dec	Saturday	Goa Liberation Day	Panaji
24 Dec	Thursday	Christmas Eve	Aizawl, Kohima, Shillong
25 Dec	Friday	Christmas	All RBI regions
26 Dec	Saturday	Christmas	Kohima, Shillong
30 Dec	Wednesday	Death anniversary of U Kiang Nangbah	Shillong
31 Dec	Thursday	New Year's Eve	Aizawl

If you live in Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan or West Bengal, the only extra holiday RBI lists for you in December is Christmas on 25 December. Online banking and UPI keep working on bank holidays, though a few services may pause.

Festivals and fasting days

These dates come from Drik Panchang for New Delhi and were checked against a second calendar. Dates can differ by a day in other cities.

Date	Day	Festival or vrat
1 Dec	Tuesday	Kalabhairav Jayanti
4 Dec	Friday	Utpanna Ekadashi
14 Dec	Monday	Vivah Panchami
16 Dec	Wednesday	Dhanu Sankranti, when the Sun moves into Dhanu
20 Dec	Sunday	Gita Jayanti and Mokshada Ekadashi
23 Dec	Wednesday	Dattatreya Jayanti and Margashirsha Purnima

Days that matter to farmers

23 December is Kisan Diwas (National Farmers' Day). It marks the birth anniversary of Chaudhary Charan Singh, India's fifth Prime Minister, and honours the country's farmers. It is a good day to check the status of your own benefits, such as your PM-KISAN instalment and your crop insurance.

Other dates

• 22 December is the shortest day of the year in the northern hemisphere.
• 23 December is also Hazarat Ali's Birthday, a restricted holiday. It follows the Islamic calendar, so the exact day depends on the moon being sighted and may shift by a day.
• 25 December is Christmas, the only gazetted holiday in the month.

What we could not confirm

• State-wise gazetted holidays. State governments publish their own lists. We have not checked each state.
• Regional festivals. This list covers national and major pan-India dates, not every local festival.
• Exact vrat dates in your city. Tithi dates change with location. Check a local panchang before you fast.
• Changes to RBI's list. RBI can amend its holiday list. Check the RBI page for your city before a big transaction.

Where to read next

• All festivals and holidays, month by month
• Find your bank branch, IFSC and MICR code

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This is general information. Dates were checked on 31 October 2026 and can change. Confirm bank holidays with your bank and religious dates with a local panchang.