Public holidays in Sweden

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In Sweden, public holidays (Swedish: helgdagar) are established by acts of Parliament (the Riksdag).^[1] The official holidays can be divided into Christian and non-Christian holidays. The Christian holidays are jul (Christmas), trettondedag jul (Epiphany), påsk (Easter), Kristi himmelsfärds dag (Ascension Day), pingstdagen (Pentecost), and alla helgons dag (All Saints' Day). The non-Christian holidays are: nyårsdagen (New Year's Day), första maj (International Workers' Day), Sveriges nationaldag (National Day), and midsommar (Midsummer). Midsummer is, however, officially also a Christian holiday to celebrate John the Baptist's birthday.

In addition to this, all Sundays are official holidays, but they are not as important as the main holidays. The names of the Sundays follow the liturgical calendar and they should be categorized as Christian holidays. Easter Sunday and Pentecost are always on Sundays, but they are seen more like main holidays than ordinary Sundays. When the standard working week in Sweden was reduced to 40 hours by the Riksdag, all Saturdays became de facto public holidays. Holy Saturday, Midsummer's Eve, Christmas Eve, and New Year's Eve are also de facto holidays.

Part of the Swedish tradition is the celebration of Lucia (Saint Lucia Day). She is the only saint to be celebrated in Lutheran Sweden (as well as those parts of Norway and Finland, where Swedish influence has historically been prominent). The celebration, which, however, is not a public holiday, always takes place on 13 December and retains many pre-Christian traditions. The same is also true for many holidays in Sweden.

In Sweden, a public holiday is sometimes referred to as röd dag (red day),^[2] as it is printed in red in most calendars. It is quite common for some businesses to close at noon the day before certain holidays, and also if a holiday falls on a Tuesday or a Thursday, Swedes will commonly take off the klämdag (squashed in days, or squeeze day) that falls between the holiday and the weekend.