Several Hong Kong General Holidays change date each year. The dates for Lunar New Year, the Birthday of the Buddha, Tuen Ng, Mid-Autumn and Chung Yeung come from the Chinese calendar. Easter follows a different calendar, while Ching Ming is tied to a solar term.
Those calendars establish the festival dates. Hong Kong's holiday rules then determine whether a Sunday substitution or an additional holiday is required. For a working-day calculation, use the published General Holidays list for the relevant year rather than copying dates from an earlier year.
Which General Holidays can change date?
The General Holidays Ordinance provides for 17 named holidays. They fall into five groups:
| Group | General Holidays |
|---|---|
| Five fixed dates | New Year's Day, Labour Day, HKSAR Establishment Day, National Day and Christmas Day |
| One weekday-based date | The first weekday after Christmas Day |
| Three Easter dates | Good Friday, the day following Good Friday and Easter Monday |
| Seven Chinese-calendar dates | The first three days of Lunar New Year, the Birthday of the Buddha, Tuen Ng, the day following Mid-Autumn Festival and Chung Yeung |
| One solar-term date | Ching Ming Festival |
Every Sunday is also a General Holiday, but Sundays are separate from the 17 named holidays.
The first weekday after Christmas depends on the weekday of 26 December. It is Saturday 26 December in the 2026 list. In 2027, 26 December is a Sunday, so the official holiday is Monday 27 December.
Official movable dates for 2026 and 2027
The official lists show how much the dates can change in one year. Where a Sunday substitution applies, this table gives the date in the published list rather than only the festival date.
| Holiday or block | 2026 official date | 2027 official date |
|---|---|---|
| Lunar New Year block | 17–19 February | 6–9 February, including the Sunday and substituted fourth day |
| Good Friday | 3 April | 26 March |
| Day following Good Friday | 4 April | 27 March |
| Easter Monday | 6 April, the same date as the substituted Ching Ming holiday | 29 March |
| Additional day caused by the collision | 7 April | — |
| Ching Ming | 6 April, substituted for Sunday 5 April | 5 April |
| Birthday of the Buddha | 25 May, substituted for Sunday 24 May | 13 May |
| Tuen Ng Festival | 19 June | 9 June |
| Day following Mid-Autumn Festival | 26 September | 16 September |
| Chung Yeung Festival | 19 October, substituted for Sunday 18 October | 8 October |
Festival dates alone are not enough for a working-day calculation. The official list may instead name a following day, a fourth Lunar New Year day or an additional holiday when two General Holidays coincide.
Why the Chinese-calendar dates move
The Hong Kong Observatory describes the traditional Chinese calendar as a combined lunar and solar calendar. Twelve lunar months contain just over 354 days, more than 10 days fewer than a solar year. The calendar uses leap months to keep the months aligned with the seasons.
That difference explains the large Gregorian shift between these two years:
| Holiday | 2026 | 2027 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lunar New Year's Day | 17 February | 6 February | 11 days earlier |
| Tuen Ng Festival | 19 June | 9 June | 10 days earlier |
| Day following Mid-Autumn Festival | 26 September | 16 September | 10 days earlier |
| Chung Yeung Festival | 18 October before substitution | 8 October | 10 days earlier |
The underlying holiday rules have not changed between these two years. The festival occurs on a different Gregorian date, and the General Holidays rules apply to that date.
Why Ching Ming behaves differently
Ching Ming is not set by a numbered day in a lunar month. It is tied to the solar term that the Hong Kong Observatory translates as "Bright and Clear", when the Sun's longitude reaches 15 degrees.
It therefore stays close to the same part of the Gregorian calendar. Ching Ming is 5 April in both 2026 and 2027. In 2026 that date is a Sunday, so the published list uses the following day. In 2027 it is a Monday, so no substitute is needed.
Good Friday, the day following Good Friday and Easter Monday are also movable, but they follow the Western Easter calendar rather than the Chinese calendar. Easter falls in early April in 2026 and late March in 2027. This separation matters when checking why a date changed: not every movable Hong Kong holiday has the same calendar rule.
Sunday substitutions can change the published list
The April 2026 sequence shows how the substitution rules operate after the festival dates have been established:
- Ching Ming falls on Sunday 5 April.
- Monday 6 April is therefore the substituted General Holiday for Ching Ming.
- The same Monday is Easter Monday, which is already a General Holiday.
- When two General Holidays coincide, the next day that is not already a General Holiday becomes an additional holiday.
- The official list therefore includes Tuesday 7 April as the day following Easter Monday.
For a Monday-to-Friday schedule, the result is five consecutive days off from Good Friday on 3 April through Tuesday 7 April.
Lunar New Year 2027 uses a different rule. Lunar New Year's Day is Saturday 6 February, the second day is Sunday 7 February and the third day is Monday 8 February. Because one of the first three days is a Sunday, Tuesday 9 February becomes the fourth day of Lunar New Year and a General Holiday.
The Saturday holiday is not transferred to Monday. Hong Kong does not automatically substitute every General Holiday that falls on Saturday. The Tuesday holiday arises because the second day is a Sunday.
Use the published dates in the calculator
The calculator uses the General Holidays data for the selected year. That includes the substitute and additional dates in the official list, so a calculation across April 2026 excludes both Monday 6 April and Tuesday 7 April. Its Year Summary shows the same sequence as one five-day break.
Worked example: the substituted pair in a count
Assume a period of three working days starts on Friday 3 April 2026. Exclude the start date and include the third working day.
| Count | Date | Treatment |
|---|---|---|
| - | Mon 6 Apr | Easter Monday and the substituted Ching Ming holiday; excluded |
| - | Tue 7 Apr | Additional holiday for the collision; excluded |
| 1-3 | Wed 8-Fri 10 Apr | Working days |
The result is Friday 10 April 2026. Ching Ming fell on Sunday 5 April, so the published list moved it to Monday 6 April, which was already Easter Monday. The list then added Tuesday 7 April because the two General Holidays coincided. A calculation built from the festival dates alone would miss that added day and finish one working day early.
Open the three-working-day example in the calculator.
Calendar conversion may help with planning before a list is published, but it cannot establish the final General Holiday dates. The published list may apply a Sunday substitution or add a date because two holidays coincide.
General Holidays are also different from Statutory Holidays under the Employment Ordinance. If the question concerns an employee's holiday entitlement, the employment rules and the person's work arrangements remain relevant. If the question concerns a contractual or legal deadline, its own definition determines whether General Holidays are excluded.
For the complete date lists, see Hong Kong General Holidays 2026 and Hong Kong General Holidays 2027. The resulting natural breaks are listed in the 2026 long-weekend guide and 2027 long-weekend guide.
Sources and verification
Sources checked on 3 August 2026:
- GovHK: General Holidays for 2026 — gazetted dates and the Ching Ming, Easter, Buddha and Chung Yeung substitution explanation.
- GovHK: General Holidays for 2027 — gazetted dates and the fourth-day Lunar New Year substitution.
- Hong Kong Observatory: The Chinese Agricultural Calendar Explained — the combined lunar-solar system, lunar-month length and leap months.
- Hong Kong Observatory: The 24 Solar Terms — the 15-degree solar terms and "Bright and Clear".
- Hong Kong Government: 2011 substitution amendment — the special Sunday rule for Lunar New Year and the day following Mid-Autumn Festival.
- General Holidays Ordinance (Cap. 149) — statutory schedule and additional-holiday framework.
The annual General Holidays list supplies the dates for the calculation. The rule or document that creates the period still determines whether those dates are excluded.
