When are the public holidays in Croatia 2021? Learn more about the specific Croatian holidays and which facilities around the country close or remain open.
Public Holidays in Croatia 2021 – What closes and what stays open?
You are enjoying a perfect holiday and just want to pop into the bank to change some money to go on that fabulous boat trip. But what’s this? The bank is not open in the middle of the week and the middle of the summer!
There is nothing worse than being far from home on a public holiday when things do not work as you want them to (ok, there are worse things…). But to be forewarned means you are prepared, so here is a quick list of the public holidays in Croatia 2021.
Some of them are very international and need no explanation, while others are very specific to Croatia. Find a brief overview of the Croatian holidays below.
So what will happen on a public holiday in Croatia 2021? Well, the good news is that tourists will not see much of a change. This is a tourist country after all, which is an industry which generates 20% of GDP. Therefore it would make little sense for the tourism sector to take the day off.
In general what happens is that banks and official institutions do close, but exchange offices and ATMs are open. And if you need to get that document for a residence permit… Well, you really should get used to ‘come back tomorrow.’
One thing to bear in mind is that Croatians love to extend their public holidays when there is an option, so if the public holiday occurs on a Thursday, it is not uncommon for companies or institutions to include the Friday as well.
Having said all that, here are the 13 official public holidays in Croatia 2021.
2021 Reality – Epidemiological Measures
Shops, bars, restaurants all stay open on public holidays. In early 2021, the bars and restaurants are closed all over Croatia to fight the pandemic. They can serve you drinks and food to-go. We can only hope that the bars and the restaurants will open fully soon. Once they open, the bar and restaurants will remain open for the holidays, possible exceptions are Easter, Christmas and New Year’s Day, but you will always find somewhere to find a drink in a reasonably-sized town – if nothing else, on a gas station.
1 Jan Tue: New Year’s Day
6 Jan Sun: Epiphany
4 Apr Mon: Easter Monday
Easter and Easter Monday are both public holidays in Croatia, so expect that it will not be easy to do any shopping in Croatia during the two days. Almost all stores will probably be closed on the Easter Sunday, with some of them opening on Monday for a shorter period during the day.
1 May Sat: Labour Day
30 May Sun: Statehood Day
May 30th has been the biggest national holiday for years. A few years ago the statehood/independence celebration has been moved to June 25, but now it’s back to May 30. On that day, the Croatians commemorate the first time the democratically elected Croatian Parliament had a session in 1990.
3 Jun Thu: Corpus Christi
22 Jun Tue: Anti-Fascist Resistance Day
Anti-Fascist Resistance Day dates back to the 1941 uprising of anti-fascist Partisans against German and Italian occupying troops.
5 Aug Thu: Victory and Homeland Thanksgiving Day
Another relatively new public holiday for the Croatian calendar, Victory and Homeland Thanksgiving Day dates back to 1995 and the final push to end the Homeland War. It was an operation known as Operation Storm.
15 Aug Sun: Assumption Day
1 Nov Mon: All Saints’ Day
18 Nov Thu: Remembrance Day for All Victims of the Homeland War
Often known as the Vukovar and Škabrnja Remembrance Day, the Croatians remember all of the victims of the Homeland war.
25 Dec Wed: Christmas Day
26 Dec Thu: St Stephen’s Day
