Jul 282015
Holidays and Festivals in Singapore, in 2016
The following 11 days in 2016 have been declared as official gazetted public holidays in Singapore.
| SINGAPORE HOLIDAY | HOLIDAY DATE | DAY | REASON FOR PUBLIC HOLIDAY IN SINGAPORE |
|---|---|---|---|
| New Year’s Day | 1 January, 2016 | Friday | First day of the Gregorian New Year. |
| Chinese New Year | 8 February, 2016 | Monday | Start of Chinese New Year (also known as Spring Festival or Lunar New Year). 15 day festival ends on Lantern Festival on 22 February, 2016. |
| Chinese New Year | 9 February, 2016 | Tuesday | |
| Good Friday | 25 March, 2016 | Friday | Christian Festival, which marks the death of Jesus Christ. |
| Labour Day | 1 May, 2016 | Sunday | Labour Day (or “May Day”) in Singapore is a celebration of workers. |
| Labour Day | 2 May, 2016 | Monday | Since Labour Day is on a Sunday, Singapore Government has declared a holiday on Monday, 2 May, 2016. |
| Vesak Day (Buddha Purnima) | 21 May, 2016 | Saturday | Buddhist Festival, which celebrates the birth, life, enlightenment and death of Gautum Buddha. |
| Hari Raya Puasa (Eid-Al-Fitr) | 6 July, 2016 | Wednesday | Islamic Festival that marks the end of Ramadan, which is the holy month of fasting. |
| Singapore National Day | 9 August, 2016 | Tuesday | Singapore’s Independence Day from Malaysia in 1965. |
| Hari Raya Haji (Eid-Al-Adha) | 12 September, 2016 | Monday | Hari Raya Haji (“Festival of the sacrifice”) is an Islamic Festival that celebrates Abraham’s willingness to follow God’s command to sacrifice his son. |
| Deepavali (Diwali) | 29 October, 2016 | Saturday | Hindu festival of Lights, that celebrates return of Lord Ram from 14 years of exile. Sunday, 30 Oct, 2016, is Lakshmi Puja (Goddess of Wealth). |
| Christmas Day | 25 December, 2016 | Sunday | Christian Festival celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ. Monday, 26 December, 2016 will be a holiday in Singapore. |
| Christmas Day | 26 December, 2016 | Monday | Since Christmas is on a Sunday, Singapore Government has declared holiday on Monday, 26 Dec, 2016 (Boxing Day). |
PLEASE NOTE:
- In Singapore, when a holiday falls on Sunday, the next Monday is declared a holiday. Since Labour Day is on a Sunday (1 May, 2016), Monday, 2 May, 2016 is a holiday. Christmas is on a Sunday, so Monday 26 December, 2016 is a holiday.
- Singapore’s Ministry of Manpower (MOM) has issued the above list of gazette public holidays in Singapore in 2016.
- Singapore employers have the flexibility to give their employees alternate holidays in lieu of the above 11 holidays.
Dates of School and College Holidays in Singapore, in 2016
The academic year in Singapore consists of two semesters with two terms. There are holidays between semesters and terms. Singapore’s Ministry of Education finalizes the school holiday dates. Please refer to their website for further details.
This article has the list of dates of Singapore School Holidays In 2017 And 2018.
| SCHOOL, JUNIOR COLLEGE HOLIDAYS IN SINGAPORE IN 2016 | HOLIDAY DATE AND DAY IN 2016 |
|---|---|
| School Break between Terms 1 and 2 | 12 March, 2016 (Saturday) to 20 March, 2015 (Sunday) |
| School Break between Semester 1 and 2 | 28 May, 2016 (Saturday) to 26 June, 2016 (Sunday) |
| Singapore Youth Day | 3 July, 2016 (Sunday); 4 July, 2016 (Monday) will be a holiday. |
| Singapore Teachers’ Day | 2 September, 2016 (Friday) |
| School Break between Terms 3 and 4 | 3 September, 2016 (Saturday) to 11 September, 2016 (Sunday) |
| Singapore Children’s Day (Holiday only for Primary School) | 7 October, 2016 (Friday) |
| Singapore End of Academic School Year | 19 November, 2016 (Saturday) to 31 December, 2016 (Saturday) |
Festivals, Holidays, Anniversaries in Singapore in 2016
In addition to the 11 public holidays, Singapore also celebrates festivals, anniversaries and special occasions. Festivals and anniversaries celebrated in Singapore in 2016 are listed below.
| SINGAPORE FESTIVAL, HOLIDAY | DATE | DAY | REASON FOR FESTIVAL CELEBRATION IN SINGAPORE |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thaipusam | 23 January, 2016 | Saturday | Tamil Hindu festival celebrates the victory of Goddess Parvati and Lord Murugun (Kartikeya – son of Parvati and Shiva) over evil demon Soorapadman. 5 Km processionn from Sri Srinivasa Perumal Temple (397 Serangoon Road, Little India) to Sri Thendayuthapani Temple (15 Tank Road) |
| Valentine’s Day | 14 February, 2016 | Sunday | Day of Love. Christian festival commenorates feast of St. Valentine, a Roman Catholic saint. Singaporeans are among the biggest spenders on Valentine’s Day in the world. |
| Total Defence Day | 15 February, 2016 | Monday | In 15 February 1942, the British surrendered Singapore to the Japanese in World War II. Commemoration take place at Kranji War Memorial. “Total Defence” related educational activities are held in schools. |
| Lantern Festival | 22 February, 2016 | Monday | Chinese festival that marks the last day (15th day) of Chinese New Year celebration. Sometimes the Mid-Autumn Festival on 15 September, 2016 is also called “Lantern Festival”), but that is a different festival. |
| International Women’s Day | 8 March, 2016 | Tuesday | This day celebrates the role of Women. |
| Holy Saturday (Easter Saturday) | 26 March, 2016 | Saturday | Also known as Silent Saturday or Great Sabbath. Festival is a day before Easter, when Jesus Chirst’s body lay in a tomb. Church mass on this day is called Easter Vigil. |
| Easter | 27 March, 2016 | Sunday | Christian festival celebrates the resurrection of Jesus Christ on the third day after his burial. |
| Qingming Festival (Ching Ming Festival) | 4 April, 2016 | Monday | Qingming Festival is also known as “Ching Ming Festival”, “Tomb Sweeping Day”, “Chinese Pure Brightness Festival” and “Ancestors Day”. Qingming is a Chinese Festival in which dead ancestors are remembered. |
| Baisakhi (Vaisakhi) | 13 April, 2016 | Wednesday | Sikhs celebrate Baisakhi as the day the Khalsa was established. It is the Harvest Festival for Punjabis. Vaisakhi is also the start of Hindu New Year. |
| Mother’s Day | 8 May, 2016 | Sunday | Celebrated on the second Sunday in May to celebrate the role of mothers. |
| Start of Ramadan (29-days) | 6 June, 2016 | Monday | The Muslim Holy Month of Ramadan is from 6 June, 2016 to 5 July, 2016. Ramadan is a month of fasting to celebrate the first revelation of the Quran to Prophet Muhammad. 6 June, 2016 is the start the fasting month of Ramadhan. “Hari Raya Puasa” marks the end of Ramadan. |
| Dragon Boat Festival | 9 June, 2016 | Thursday | Death anniversary of patriotic poet Qu Yuan. Dragon Boat Festival’s main celebration is at Bedok Reservoir where there is a race of Dragon Boats from all over the world. Dragon Boat Festival is also called “Duanwu” and “Tuen Ng”. |
| Father’s Day | 19 June, 2016 | Sunday | Celebrates the contributions of fathers. Father’s Day in Singapore is celebrated on the third Sunday of June. |
| Singapore Armed Forces Day | 1 July, 2016 | Friday | Parade is held in honor of Singapore Armed Forces (SAF). |
| Racial Harmony Day | 21 July, 2016 | Thursday | Singapore’s first race riots took place on 21 July 1964. This day commemorates that riot and celebrates Singapore’s harmonious multi-racial society. |
| Hungry Ghost Festival (Yu Lan Pen) | 17 August, 2016 | Wednesday | Hungry Ghost Festival is also known as “Yu Lan Pen” and “Zhongyuan Festival”. Hungry Ghost Festival is a Chinese festival to remember and appease ancestors. It is thought that the ghost of our ancestors visit us on Chinese Ghost Festival Day.Hungry Ghost Festival in 2016 is on August 17, 2016. |
| Mid-Autumn Festival | 15 September, 2016 | Thursday | Also known as Moon Festival, it is the Vietnamese and Chinese harvest festival. Mid-Autumn Festival is sometimes also called “Lantern Festival”, because of the use of Lanterns in the celebration of this festival. |
| Islamic New Year (1st Day of Muharram) | 1 October, 2016 | Saturday | “Muharram” is the second holiest month in Islam, after Ramadan. The first day of Moharram is the start of the new Islamic calendar. In 2016, Muharram is from 1 October, 2016 to 31 October, 2016. |
| Maulad Nabi – Birth of Prophet Muhammad | 13 December, 2016 | Tuesday | Islamic festval is the birthday of Prophet Muhammad. Also called Milad-Un-Nabi or Id-E-Milad or Maulidur Rasul |
| Christmas Eve | 24 December, 2016 | Saturday | Day before the birth of Jesus Christ. Since Christianity is the fastest growing religion in Singapore, Chirtmas is an important festival for residents. |
| New Year’s Eve | 31 December, 2016 | Saturday | The last day of the year is a day for fun. |
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Images:
- Singapore Chinese New Year (Lantern Festival): Image by fliesyan. Image licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0).
- Singapore National Day Fireworks: Image by William Cho. Image taken from Wikimedia Commons. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.
- Singapore Deepavali Celebrations: Image by David Sifry. Image used under Creative Commons License Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0).
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