The following is a list of public holidays in

Armenia Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia (country), Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to ...

Legal holidays and remembrance days

Non-working legal holidays and remembrance days

Per Armenian law, 12 days are declared as non-working days. Non-working days include:

Other legal holidays

The following days are mentioned in relevant laws, but are not specified as non-working days: Other traditional, international and professional holidays, as well as religious holidays, can also be celebrated in Armenia. National minorities can also celebrate their national holidays.

Reshuffling by government

The

Government of Armenia The Government of the Republic of Armenia () or the executive branch of the Armenian government is an executive council of government ministers in Armenia. It is one of the three main governmental branches of Armenia and is headed by the Pr ...

is allowed to swap working and non-working days. It usually makes use of this e.g. declaring

Easter Monday Easter Monday is the second day of Eastertide and a public holiday in more than 50 predominantly Christian countries. In Western Christianity it marks the second day of the Octave of Easter; in Eastern Christianity it marks the second day of Br ...

non-working, while the next Saturday becomes a working day instead.

Other memorable days

Vardavar

Every year, 14 weeks after Easter, Armenians celebrate ''

Vardavar Vardavar or Vartavar (, Homshetsi: ''Vartevor'' or ''Behur'') is a festival in Armenia where people drench each other with water. Origin Vardavar's history dates back to pagan times. The ancient festival is traditionally associated with the go ...

'' (Վարդավար), a lively festival where people soak each other with water using hoses, buckets, spray guns, and other tools. Regardless of who you are or where you are, you will get wet if you are out and about during Vardavar. The origins of Vardavar trace back to ancient Armenian pagan traditions. Historically, on this day known as Water Day, Armenians made offerings of red roses to

Astłik Astłik or Astghik () a prominent goddess in ancient Armenian mythology, is revered as the embodiment of beauty, love, fertility, and water. Celebrated for her celestial beauty, she was a key figure in Armenian religious practices. Astghik is a ...

, the goddess of water, beauty, love, and fertility. The name "Vardavar" itself is a blend of the words "vard" (meaning "rose") and "var" (meaning "burn") in Armenian. Despite its pagan roots, Vardavar has been seamlessly integrated into Christian Armenian culture. Following Armenia's conversion to Christianity in 301 AD, the explicit pagan elements were removed from the celebration. However, the festival's essence, symbolized by the joyous and communal water splashing, remains a beloved tradition.

Armenian Earthquake Memorial Day

Armenian Earthquake Memorial Day is a day of remembrance in

for the

earthquake An earthquakealso called a quake, tremor, or tembloris the shaking of the Earth's surface resulting from a sudden release of energy in the lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, from those so weak they ...

of magnitude 6.9 on the

Richter scale The Richter scale (), also called the Richter magnitude scale, Richter's magnitude scale, and the Gutenberg–Richter scale, is a measure of the strength of earthquakes, developed by Charles Richter in collaboration with Beno Gutenberg, and pr ...

that struck in northwest Armenia (then part of the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

) on 7 December 1988. The earthquake damaged much of the country's infrastructure, especially in the cities of

Spitak Spitak (), is a town and urban municipal community in the northern Lori Province of Armenia. It is north of the capital, Yerevan, and west of the provincial center, Vanadzor. Spitak was entirely destroyed during the devastating 1988 Armenian e ...

, Leninakan (now

Gyumri Gyumri (, ) is an urban municipal community and the List of cities and towns in Armenia, second-largest city in Armenia, serving as the administrative center of Shirak Province in the northwestern part of the country. By the end of the 19th centur ...

), Kirovakan (now

Vanadzor Vanadzor (, ) is an urban municipal community and the third largest city in Armenia, serving as the capital of Lori Province in the northern part of the country. It is located about north of the capital Yerevan. As of the 2011 census, the city h ...

), and

Stepanavan Stepanavan () is a town and municipal community in the Lori Province of Armenia. It is located north of the capital Yerevan and north of the provincial centre Vanadzor, halfway between Yerevan and Tbilisi. As of the 2011 census, the population o ...

, along with other small towns and villages near the

epicenter The epicenter (), epicentre, or epicentrum in seismology is the point on the Earth's surface directly above a hypocenter or focus, the point where an earthquake or an underground explosion originates. Determination The primary purpose of a ...

. Each year, 7 December is recognized by the government of Armenia (and the de facto government of

Nagorno-Karabakh Nagorno-Karabakh (, ; ) is a region in Azerbaijan, covering the southeastern stretch of the Lesser Caucasus mountain range. Part of the greater region of Karabakh, it spans the area between Lower Karabakh and Syunik Province, Syunik. Its ter ...

) as a day of remembrance of the tragedies that stemmed from the earthquake in 1988.

Motherhood and Beauty Day

Motherhood and beauty day () is an official holiday in

dedicated to women. While March 8 celebrates all women, April 7 is mother's day. April 7 is the

Feast of the Annunciation The Feast of the Annunciation () commemorates the visit of the archangel Gabriel to the Virgin Mary, during which he informed her that she would be the mother of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. It is celebrated on 25 March; however, if 25 Marc ...

in the calendar of the

Armenian Apostolic Church The Armenian Apostolic Church () is the Autocephaly, autocephalous national church of Armenia. Part of Oriental Orthodoxy, it is one of the most ancient Christianity, Christian churches. The Armenian Apostolic Church, like the Armenian Catholic ...

. It is expected to give presents to one's own

mother A mother is the female parent of a child. A woman may be considered a mother by virtue of having given birth, by raising a child who may or may not be her biological offspring, or by supplying her ovum for fertilisation in the case of ges ...

. Celebrating each woman as beautiful in her own way, mothers are particularly happy to receive

flowers Flowers, also known as blooms and blossoms, are the reproductive structures of flowering plants ( angiosperms). Typically, they are structured in four circular levels, called whorls, around the end of a stalk. These whorls include: calyx, m ...

References

{{Public holidays in Europe

Culture of Armenia Society of Armenia Observances in Armenia

Holidays A holiday is a day or other period of time set aside for festivals or recreation. ''Public holidays'' are set by public authorities and vary by state or region. Religious holidays are set by religious organisations for their members and are often ...