# North Cyprus Public Holidays 2026: What Closes & When > The 2026 TRNC public holiday calendar — bayram dates, the TRNC-only days Türkiye doesn't share, and what actually closes: banks, shops, borders, airports. - Canonical: https://www.kiprarent.com/en/guide/public-holidays-north-cyprus/ - Updated: 2026-06-13 - Language: English - Publisher: Kipra Rent A Car — https://www.kiprarent.com/ --- North Cyprus runs on a public-holiday calendar most visitors have never seen: partly shared with Türkiye, partly its own — and in 2026 it adds up to **17 full holiday days plus two half-day bayram eves**. The dates that actually bite a holiday plan are the two moveable bayrams, when banks and offices shut for days at a stretch. One sourcing note up front: the TRNC publishes no single official 2026 circular online, so the table below is cross-checked against three independently published local calendars — all of which agree on every date. Treat this as a 2026 page; the religious dates move every year. ## What are the public holidays in North Cyprus in 2026? The full 2026 calendar, from published TRNC holiday calendars: | Date (2026) | Day | Holiday | Notes | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 January | Thursday | New Year's Day | | | 19 March | Thursday | Ramazan Bayramı eve | **half day** | | 20–22 March | Friday–Sunday | **Ramazan Bayramı** (Eid al-Fitr) | moveable, 3 days | | 23 April | Thursday | National Sovereignty and Children's Day | | | 1 May | Friday | Labour Day | | | 19 May | Tuesday | Atatürk Commemoration, Youth and Sports Day | | | 26 May | Tuesday | Kurban Bayramı eve | **half day** | | 27–30 May | Wednesday–Saturday | **Kurban Bayramı** (Eid al-Adha) | moveable, 4 days | | 20 July | Monday | Peace and Freedom Day | **TRNC only** | | 1 August | Saturday | Communal Resistance Day | **TRNC only** | | 25 August | Tuesday | Mevlid (Prophet's birthday) | **TRNC only**, lunar — tentative | | 30 August | Sunday | Victory Day | | | 29 October | Thursday | Republic Day (Türkiye) | | | 15 November | Sunday | TRNC Republic Day | **TRNC only** | Two reading notes. The bayram dates are lunar-calendar dates fixed per year — in 2026, Ramazan Bayramı falls **20–22 March** and Kurban Bayramı **27–30 May**, each preceded by a half-day eve. And the Mevlid date (**25 August 2026**) is flagged as tentative even in the published calendars, as lunar observance dates can shift by a day. ## Which holidays are TRNC-only? Four dates on the list exist in the TRNC but not in Türkiye — **20 July, 1 August, 15 November and Mevlid** — and one Turkish holiday goes the other way. What they mark, in neutral one-liners: - **20 July — Peace and Freedom Day:** the anniversary of Türkiye's 1974 military intervention, a date the island's two sides read very differently; in the north it is a full public holiday. - **1 August — Communal Resistance Day:** commemorates the Turkish Cypriot resistance organisations of the late 1950s. - **15 November — TRNC Republic Day:** the anniversary of the 1983 declaration of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. - **Mevlid:** the Prophet's birthday — observed as a public holiday in the TRNC, no longer in Türkiye's official calendar. The reverse case trips up visitors who know Türkiye's calendar: **Türkiye's 15 July holiday (Democracy and National Unity Day) is not a TRNC public holiday** — offices in the north work normally that day, as of 2026. ## What actually closes on a public holiday? Banks and government offices close fully — and stay closed through both multi-day bayrams — while the tourist economy mostly keeps moving. The pattern reported by published local calendars and guides, as of 2026: - **Banks and government:** fully closed on every listed day, suspended for the entire run of each bayram. With a weekend attached, Kurban Bayramı 2026 (Wednesday 27 – Saturday 30 May, plus Sunday) means **up to five days without an open bank branch**. - **Private businesses:** often close only the first bayram day, reopening partially after that — but practice varies shop by shop. - **Tourist areas:** restaurants, supermarkets and beach businesses in Famagusta, İskele and Long Beach typically run reduced or near-normal hours; holidays are their busy days, not their days off. - **Borders and airports:** stay open. The Deryneia Crosspoint keeps operating on holidays — the [border crossing guide](/en/blog/south-to-north-cyprus-border-crossing-guide/) covers the mechanics — and flights keep flying; if your trip starts at Ercan mid-bayram, the [Ercan airport car rental page](/en/ercan-airport-car-rental/) covers the airport handover. ## How do you plan a trip around the 2026 holidays? Front-load anything that needs a bank or an office, and the holidays become atmosphere rather than obstacle. The practical checklist for a stay that overlaps a bayram, as of 2026: 1. **Cash before, not during.** Banks suspend through the whole bayram — make the withdrawals and currency arrangements before the eve rather than counting on a specific machine mid-holiday. The [money and cards guide](/en/guide/currency-cash-cards-north-cyprus/) covers which currencies work where. 2. **Fuel up before the eve.** The half-day eve and the first bayram day are the most closure-prone window — a full tank before the holiday starts removes the question. 3. **Pharmacies run on the duty rota.** Every district has a rotating on-duty pharmacy on holidays, published daily — the [emergency numbers and hospitals guide](/en/guide/emergency-numbers-hospitals-north-cyprus/) explains the nöbetçi system. 4. **Book restaurants on bayram evenings.** Locals eat out in force during bayram — in tourist areas the constraint is tables, not closures. A car is the quiet advantage on holiday dates: with banks shut and schedules thinned, self-contained mobility is what keeps a bayram day flexible. Kipra Rent A Car is a Famagusta-based local rental company with VAT and third-party insurance included in every displayed price — what you see is what you pay, holiday or not. ## Does this calendar change every year? Yes — the religious dates move with the lunar calendar, so this page is explicitly a **2026** calendar and gets refreshed annually each January. The fixed national dates (1 January, 23 April, 1 May, 19 May, 20 July, 1 August, 30 August, 29 October, 15 November) hold steady year to year; the two bayrams and Mevlid shift roughly 11 days earlier each year. If you are planning a 2027 trip, check the bayram dates for that year before locking flights — in 2027 both bayrams land earlier in the spring than the 2026 dates above. The holiday calendar is one of the [15 things that catch first-time visitors to North Cyprus](/en/guide/first-time-visitors-north-cyprus/) — the other fourteen are on that one page. --- Holiday dates checked, the car takes two minutes: [book a car](https://app.kiprarent.com/en/book/cars) · WhatsApp [+90 546 996 1004](https://wa.me/905469961004) — English spoken. ## Frequently Asked Questions **Are shops open during bayram in North Cyprus?** Partly. The reported pattern as of 2026: banks and government offices close for the full bayram, private businesses often close only the first day, and shops and restaurants in tourist areas run reduced or near-normal hours. Stock up on cash and fuel before the holiday starts. **Do North Cyprus holidays match Türkiye's?** Mostly but not entirely. The shared core — New Year, the two bayrams, 23 April, 1 May, 19 May, 30 August, 29 October — matches. The TRNC adds its own days (20 July, 1 August, 15 November and Mevlid), and Türkiye's 15 July holiday is not observed in the TRNC. **How long are banks closed at bayram?** For the full bayram run — published calendars report banks and government offices suspended through both multi-day bayrams in 2026: 20–22 March for Ramazan Bayramı and 27–30 May for Kurban Bayramı, plus half-day eves. Add the adjoining Sunday and the gap can stretch to five days. **Is everything closed on Sundays in North Cyprus?** No — Sunday is a quiet day rather than a shutdown, with tourist-area businesses generally open. Weekly opening-hours rhythms are a separate topic from public holidays; this page covers the official holiday calendar. ## Sources - Pazar Kıbrıs — KKTC public holiday calendar: https://www.pazarkibris.com/ - What's On In TRNC — public holidays: https://whatsonintrnc.com/ - Cyprus FAQ — North Cyprus public holidays: https://cyprus-faq.com/ --- Kipra Rent A Car — Famagusta, North Cyprus. No-deposit, no-credit-card car rental; VAT + insurance included. Rezervasyon / Booking: https://app.kiprarent.com/book/cars · WhatsApp: +90 546 996 1004