A very Happy New Year, my dear readers! With a new year comes a new adventure. Before your boss turns around and says “we’ll see” to your last-minute leaves, get planning to maximise your holidays for the best 2026 has to offer. Planning is key to making the most out of your time off, whether you want a road trip, a getaway to Lonavala, or crawl cafes in Bandra or take a flight abroad. Well, you are in luck! We’ve mapped out a guide to the official public holidays 2026 and long weekends to make your itineraries a whole lot easier. Let’s get started.
Maharashtra Public Holidays 2026
For 2026, India has 17 public holidays, Maharashtra-specific holidays and a set of restricted ones that organisations can choose to observe. Since these can vary across companies and institutions, it’s best to double-check your workplace holiday calendar before locking in any plans. Furthermore, in this guide, we assume a two-day weekend (Saturday and Sunday off) while mapping out breaks and long weekends.
- New Year’s Day – Thursday, January 1 (Restricted)
- Republic Day – Monday, January 26
- Mahashivratri – Sunday, February 15 (Restricted)
- Holi – Tuesday, March 3 / Wednesday, March 4
- Gudi Padwa – Thursday, March 19 (Public in Maharashtra)
- Id-ul-Fitr – Saturday, March 21
- Ram Navami – Thursday, March 26
- Mahavir Janmakalyanak – Tuesday, March 31
- Good Friday – Friday, April 3
- Mahashtra Day/Labour Day – Friday, May 1
- Id-ul-Zuha (Bakrid) – Wednesday, May 27
- Muharram – Friday, June 26
- Indian Independence Day – Saturday, August 15
- Id-e-Milad – Wednesday, August 26
- Ganesh Chaturthi – Monday, September 14
- Gandhi Jayanti – Friday, October 2
- Dussehra – Tuesday, October 20
- Diwali – Sunday, November 8
- Guru Nanak Jayanti – Tuesday, November 24
- Christmas – Friday, December 25
Whether you have a holiday on January 1 or not, you can expect emptier roads on the first day of the New Year. However, the state’s first definitive long weekend arrives, grandly, on Monday, January 26, for Republic Day. It securely follows a weekend. The holidays in the following months to April, are subject to change according to your organisation’s calendar.
The next major break arrives on Good Friday on April 3, followed by the weekend. This is perfect if you are planning to club it with Easter Monday for a 4-day ideal getaway. Subsequently, a long weekend falls on Maharashtra Day on Friday, May 1 and the next one on, Muharram on Friday, June 26. Unfortunately, Independence Day falls on a Saturday, August 15, but a certain hurrah for those working on Saturdays. Soon after, the festive season follows in September with Ganesh Chaturthi on Monday, September 14, clubbed with the weekend. In addition, the beginning of October blesses us with Gandhi Jayanti, falling on Friday, October 2. While Diwali falls on a Sunday, November 8, expect longer leaves for the festival. Finally, the end of the year is worth planning your trip around with Christmas on a Friday.
Now that you know where the breaks are hiding in Mumbai’s public holidays 2026 list, it’s time to start planning. Whether it is a quick weekend getaway, reconnecting with nature, or a guilt-free but much-deserved luxury vacation, the new year has enough to make it work.