Copy last year's deadline calendar into this year's planner and at least one date will be wrong. Seven named Hong Kong holidays follow the Chinese lunisolar calendar, while Ching Ming follows a solar term and the Easter holidays follow the Western ecclesiastical calendar.
Together, these movable observances account for most of the year-to-year change in the named General Holiday calendar. Sunday substitutions can move the observed days again.
Which holidays are fixed and which move
Fixed-date holidays (5 holidays)
These fall on the same Gregorian date every year:
| Holiday | Date |
|---|---|
| New Year's Day | 1 January |
| Labour Day | 1 May |
| HKSAR Establishment Day | 1 July |
| National Day | 1 October |
| Christmas Day | 25 December |
The first weekday after Christmas Day is normally 26 December, but moves when that date is a Sunday (to 27 December in 2027), so it is not strictly fixed-date.
Easter-based holidays (3 holidays)
Easter follows the Western ecclesiastical calendar and shifts each year:
| Holiday | 2026 | 2027 |
|---|---|---|
| Good Friday | 3 April | 26 March |
| Day following Good Friday | 4 April | 27 March |
| Easter Monday | 6 April | 29 March |
Traditional-calendar and movable holidays
Seven entries follow the Chinese lunisolar calendar. Ching Ming is included here for planning convenience but follows a solar term rather than a lunar date:
| Holiday | 2026 | 2027 |
|---|---|---|
| Lunar New Year's Day | 17 February | 6 February |
| Second day of Lunar New Year | 18 February | 7 February |
| Third day of Lunar New Year | 19 February | 8 February |
| Fourth day of Lunar New Year (Sunday substitute) | — | 9 February |
| Ching Ming Festival | 5 April (Sun → observed 6 Apr) | 5 April |
| Birthday of the Buddha | 24 May (Sun → sub 25 May) | 13 May |
| Tuen Ng Festival | 19 June | 9 June |
| Day following Mid-Autumn Festival | 26 September | 16 September |
| Chung Yeung Festival | 18 October (Sun → sub 19 Oct) | 8 October |
Why the dates move
The Chinese calendar is lunisolar: months track the moon (roughly 29.5 days each), but the system inserts leap months every few years to stay aligned with the solar year. The result is that Chinese calendar dates drift against Gregorian dates — but within a bounded range. Lunar New Year, for example, always falls between 21 January and 20 February.
Ching Ming is the odd one out. It is defined by the solar term qīngmíng (the point when the sun reaches 15° celestial longitude) and almost always lands on 4 or 5 April — far more predictable than the purely lunar holidays.
How much dates actually move: 2026 vs 2027
The year-to-year shift can be dramatic:
| Holiday | 2026 | 2027 | Shift |
|---|---|---|---|
| CNY Day 1 | 17 Feb (Tue) | 6 Feb (Sat) | 11 days earlier |
| Tuen Ng | 19 Jun (Fri) | 9 Jun (Wed) | 10 days earlier |
| Mid-Autumn +1 | 26 Sep (Sat) | 16 Sep (Thu) | 10 days earlier |
| Chung Yeung | 18 Oct (Sun) | 8 Oct (Fri) | 10 days earlier |
The day following Mid-Autumn and Chung Yeung both move 10 days earlier in 2027. A deadline that cleared either holiday comfortably in 2026 might land squarely on top of it in 2027.
Three risks for anyone setting multi-year deadlines
Template reuse breaks. A deadline that fell on a working day in 2026 might fall on a holiday in 2027. Last year's dates are not this year's dates.
Clustering is unpredictable. In 2026, Ching Ming collides with Easter to create a five-day block (3–7 April). In 2027, Easter falls in March and Ching Ming stands alone. The cluster effect reshuffles every year.
Substitution cascades. When a movable holiday falls on Sunday, the substitute can push into the following week and collide with another holiday. In 2026, the day following Ching Ming is Monday 6 April, which coincides with Easter Monday, so Tuesday 7 April is gazetted as the day following Easter Monday.
Gazetted dates vs planning dates: know the difference
The 2026 and 2027 dates above now reflect the official gazetted General Holiday lists. Raw lunar-calendar conversions remain useful beyond the gazetted years, but they do not capture every substitution adjustment.
For any deadline more than 3 months out:
- Check the gazetted holiday list for the relevant year on GovHK
- Do not rely on previous years or lunar-calendar conversions alone
- Run the calculation through a tool that uses the correct year's data — see also General Holidays 2026 for the full gazetted list
- If the deadline is near a variable holiday, run a sensitivity check — one day's shift in the holiday can cascade through the rest of the week
The HK calculator uses the gazetted holiday list for each supported year, so working-day counts reflect the correct official dates automatically.
