Kazakhstan Public Holidays 2026-2027: Full Calendar & Dataset

Kazakhstan has 11 official public holidays in 2026, including 9 national and 2 religious holidays. The longest holiday block is Nauryz Meiramy (March 21-23, with weekend transfers extending to March 24-25 in 2026), the most-celebrated traditional holiday. Independence Day falls on December 16. Capital Day on July 6. This article and its CSV dataset are based on the official egov.kz (Electronic Government of Kazakhstan) calendar, last updated 22 April 2026.

Quick Facts

• 11 official public holidays in Kazakhstan in 2026
• Breakdown: 9 national + 2 religious (Orthodox Christmas Jan 7, Kurban Ait May 27)
• Longest holiday block: Nauryz Meiramy — 5 days (March 21-25 with weekend transfers)
• Most important national day: Independence Day — 16 December
• Capital City Day: 6 July (President Nazarbayev’s birthday, kept post-renaming)
• Constitution Day (30 August): removed from official non-working day list in 2026
• Best long weekends in 2026: 1 May, 7-9 May (Defender + Victory), 25-26 Oct (Republic Day)
• Source: egov.kz + Law No. 267 of Kazakhstan

Primary source: egov.kz Public Holidays Calendar and Law of Kazakhstan No. 267 “On Holidays in the Republic of Kazakhstan” via adilet.zan.kz.

Dataset license: Open access for journalistic, academic, business and personal use with attribution to about-kazakhstan.com.

Full Calendar 2026 (Official)

Date	Observed	Holiday (English)	Holiday (Kazakh)	Type
1-2 January	1-2 January	New Year	Жаңа жыл	National
7 January	7 January	Orthodox Christmas	Православное Рождество	Religious
8 March	9 March (transferred)	International Women’s Day	Халықаралық әйелдер күні	National
21-23 March	24-25 March (partly transferred)	Nauryz Meiramy	Наурыз мейрамы	National
1 May	1 May	People’s Unity Day	Қазақстан халқының бірлігі мерекесі	National
7 May	7 May	Defender of the Fatherland Day	Отан Қорғаушы күні	National
9 May	11 May (transferred)	Victory Day	Жеңіс күні	National
27 May	27 May	Kurban Ait (Eid al-Adha)	Құрбан айт	Religious
6 July	6 July	Capital City Day	Астана күні	National
25 October	26 October (transferred)	Republic Day	Республика күні	National
16 December	16 December	Independence Day	Тәуелсіздік күні	National

Note: Constitution Day (30 August), historically a public holiday, was removed from the official non-working day list in 2026 per recent government decisions. Only the holidays above are observed.

Full Calendar 2027 (Projected)

Date	Observed	Holiday
1-2 January	1-2 January	New Year
7 January	7 January	Orthodox Christmas
8 March	8 March	International Women’s Day
21-23 March	22-23 March (partial)	Nauryz Meiramy
1 May	3 May (transferred)	People’s Unity Day
7 May	7 May	Defender of the Fatherland Day
9 May	10 May (transferred)	Victory Day
17 May (estimated)	17 May	Kurban Ait
6 July	6 July	Capital City Day
25 October	25 October	Republic Day
16 December	16 December	Independence Day

Kurban Ait (Eid al-Adha) is set on the Islamic lunar calendar; 2027 estimated date will be confirmed by Kazakhstan religious authorities.

Calendar 2025 (Reference)

Date	Observed	Holiday
1-2 January	1-2 January (3 Jan transferred from 5 Jan)	New Year
7 January	7 January	Orthodox Christmas
8 March	10 March (transferred)	International Women’s Day
21-23 March	24-25 March (partial)	Nauryz Meiramy
1 May	1 May	People’s Unity Day
7 May	7 May	Defender of the Fatherland Day
9 May	9 May	Victory Day
6 June	6 June	Kurban Ait
6 July	7 July (transferred)	Capital City Day
30 August	1 September (transferred)	Constitution Day
25 October	27 October (transferred)	Republic Day
16 December	16 December	Independence Day

How Kazakhstan Holiday Transfers Work

Per Article 85, paragraph 3 of the Kazakhstan Labor Code, when a public holiday falls on a weekend (Saturday or Sunday), the government may transfer the rest day to the closest working day. This is done by Government Order each year, typically published in November of the preceding year.

2026 transfers explained:

• 8 March 2026 falls on Sunday → observed Monday 9 March
• 21-22 March 2026 (Nauryz days 1-2) fall on Saturday-Sunday → observed Tuesday-Wednesday 24-25 March; 23 March (Monday) is the regular Nauryz day off
• 9 May 2026 falls on Saturday → observed Monday 11 May
• 25 October 2026 falls on Sunday → observed Monday 26 October

2027 transfers explained:

• 1 May 2027 falls on Saturday → observed Monday 3 May
• 9 May 2027 falls on Sunday → observed Monday 10 May
• 21-22 March 2027 fall on Sunday-Monday → observed depending on Cabinet ruling

Holiday Categories Explained

National holidays (государственные праздники)

• New Year (1-2 January) — universal civil holiday
• International Women’s Day (8 March) — celebrated since Soviet era
• Nauryz Meiramy (21-23 March) — spring equinox, most-celebrated traditional holiday
• People’s Unity Day (1 May) — multi-ethnic unity (replaced International Workers’ Day)
• Defender of the Fatherland Day (7 May) — Kazakh Armed Forces founding (1992)
• Victory Day (9 May) — WWII victory commemoration
• Capital City Day (6 July) — anniversary of Astana’s designation as capital
• Republic Day (25 October) — declaration of state sovereignty (1990)
• Independence Day (16 December) — independence from USSR (1991)

Religious holidays (религиозные праздники)

• Orthodox Christmas (7 January) — observed by ethnic Russian, Ukrainian, Belarusian populations
• Kurban Ait / Eid al-Adha (varies by Islamic calendar) — observed by ethnic Kazakh, Uzbek, Tajik, Tatar, Uyghur populations

Note: Both major religious holidays are recognized as state non-working days, reflecting Kazakhstan’s secular but multi-confessional constitution.

Long Weekends and Travel Planning

For travelers and business planners, the longest extended holiday windows in 2026 are:

Period	Length	Holidays included
21-25 March	5 days	Nauryz Meiramy with weekend transfer
7-11 May	5 days	Defender’s Day + Victory Day with transfer
1-3 May	3 days	Unity Day + weekend
25-26 October	2 days	Republic Day with transfer
1-2 January	2 days	New Year

Travel implications:

• Domestic flight prices increase 30-80% during Nauryz week (March 21-25)
• Almaty hotels fill 60-80% during Nauryz; Astana fills 50-70%
• May 7-11 block creates predictable holiday traffic to Burabay, Kolsai, Charyn day-trips
• Embassies in Almaty and Astana are closed for both Kazakhstan public holidays and the home country’s national days

Historical Holiday Changes

Year	Change
1992	Defender of the Fatherland Day created (May 7)
1996	International Women’s Day reinstated as public holiday
1995	People’s Unity Day created (1 May)
1998	Capital City Day created when Astana became capital
2009	Day of the First President added (1 December) — later removed in 2022
2017	Republic Day status updated
2022	Day of the First President removed from holiday list
2024	Astana Day formally renamed Capital City Day in administrative usage
2026	Constitution Day (30 August) reportedly removed from official non-working day calendar (per egov.kz April 2026 publication)

Comparison with Neighboring Central Asian States

Kazakhstan has slightly more public holidays than its Central Asian neighbors, reflecting both its multi-ethnic policy (recognizing both Orthodox and Islamic religious holidays) and its post-Soviet calendar reforms.

Country	Public holidays	Notable
Kazakhstan	11	Both Orthodox Christmas and Kurban Ait
Kyrgyzstan	9	Similar structure, more Islamic emphasis
Uzbekistan	9	Independence Day September 1
Tajikistan	8	More religious orientation
Turkmenistan	9	Several state-specific holidays

Downloadable Dataset

Complete CSV with all holidays for 2025, 2026, and 2027:

📥 Download kazakhstan-public-holidays-2026.csv (3 KB)

Schema (columns):

Column	Type	Description
date	YYYY-MM-DD	Calendar date of the holiday
date_observed	YYYY-MM-DD	Day actually observed (after weekend transfer)
name_en	string	English holiday name
name_kz	string	Kazakh name (Cyrillic)
name_ru	string	Russian name
type	enum	national / religious
working_status	enum	working / non_working
year	int	Calendar year

License: Open access for journalistic, academic, business and commercial use with attribution: “Source: about-kazakhstan.com (compiled from egov.kz, verified April 2026).”

Methodology and Verification

This dataset was compiled from the official Public Holidays Calendar of Electronic Government of Kazakhstan (egov.kz), last updated 22 April 2026, plus the underlying Law of Kazakhstan No. 267 “On Holidays in the Republic of Kazakhstan” (adilet.zan.kz database).

Process:

1. Scraped official egov.kz Russian-language calendar for 2025 and 2026
2. Cross-referenced against Kazakhstan Labor Code Article 85 (transfer rules)
3. Projected 2027 dates using same transfer rules
4. Religious holiday dates (Kurban Ait) verified via Spiritual Administration of Muslims of Kazakhstan calendar

Update commitment: This dataset is reviewed quarterly and refreshed in November of each year when the Government issues the next year’s transfer order. Material changes will trigger interim updates.

Known limitations:

• 2027 Kurban Ait date is estimated; will be confirmed Q4 2026
• Government-issued transfer orders for 2027 may modify observed dates published Q4 2026
• Day of the First President (1 December) was a holiday 2009-2022 and is excluded from current dataset

For Journalists, HR, and Travel Industry

This dataset is structured to support business, HR planning, journalism, and travel industry use.

Suggested citation:

• APA: Konabayev, T. (2026). Kazakhstan Public Holidays 2026-2027: Full Calendar & Dataset. about-kazakhstan.com.
• AP: “Kazakhstan public holidays 2026-2027 calendar, about-kazakhstan.com (April 2026)”

Press inquiries: info@konabayev.com

Frequently Asked Questions

How many public holidays does Kazakhstan have in 2026?

Kazakhstan has 11 official public holidays in 2026: 9 national holidays (New Year x2, International Women's Day, Nauryz x3, People's Unity Day, Defender of the Fatherland Day, Victory Day, Capital Day, Republic Day, Independence Day) and 2 religious holidays (Orthodox Christmas, Kurban Ait). Source: egov.kz official calendar, last updated April 2026.

When is Nauryz in 2026?

Nauryz Meiramy in 2026 is officially March 21-23. Because 21-22 March fall on Saturday-Sunday in 2026, the rest days are transferred to Tuesday-Wednesday 24-25 March, while 23 March (Monday) is the regular Nauryz day off. The full holiday block runs from Saturday 21 March to Wednesday 25 March 2026.

What is the longest Kazakhstan holiday in 2026?

The longest holiday blocks in 2026 are Nauryz Meiramy (5-day window 21-25 March) and the May holiday cluster (7-11 May covering Defender's Day and Victory Day with weekend transfer). Both create natural travel windows when domestic flights and hotels see 30-80% price increases.

Is Constitution Day still a holiday in Kazakhstan?

Constitution Day (30 August) was historically a public holiday in Kazakhstan but appears to have been removed from the official non-working day calendar in 2026 per the latest egov.kz publication. The holiday was last observed in 2025 (with transfer to 1 September). Verify with current government sources before planning around this date.

When is Kurban Ait in Kazakhstan in 2026?

Kurban Ait (Eid al-Adha) in Kazakhstan in 2026 falls on 27 May. The Islamic calendar shifts approximately 11 days earlier each year, so it falls on different Gregorian dates annually. In 2025 it was 6 June; in 2027 it is estimated around 17 May. Confirm with the Spiritual Administration of Muslims of Kazakhstan for the official date.

Where can I download Kazakhstan holiday data as CSV?

A complete CSV dataset of Kazakhstan public holidays for 2025, 2026, and 2027 is available at about-kazakhstan.com/datasets/kazakhstan-public-holidays-2026.csv. Open access with attribution. Compiled from egov.kz official calendar, verified April 2026. Quarterly updates.

Last verified: 27 April 2026. Primary source: egov.kz (last updated 22 April 2026). Quarterly refresh.