When is st patrick s day

when is st patrick's day

The day sits in early spring in the northern hemisphere, after Valentine's Day and before Easter’s moving Sunday. What day is st patrick's day, as a calendar date, is 17 March. When is saint patrick's day is the same question with the longer name; both point at that mid-March date, not at a Monday rule.

In Ireland it is a public holiday. In the United States it is not a federal holiday, though New York, Boston, Chicago, and many other cities hold parades, and some local offices or schools may mark it. A US federal worker still has a normal Tuesday in 2026 unless a local rule says otherwise.

When 17 March is a Sunday, some parades and some pub events shift to Saturday so that a procession does not sit on an early-closing street. The feast date remains the 17th. What day is saint patrick's day in a church calendar is still 17 March even if a city permit says the march is on the 16th.

March, not a movable Monday

Unlike Memorial Day and Labor Day, this observance does not hunt for a Monday. It hunts for the 17th. That is why the weekday wanders and the month-day does not. You can plan a 17 March gathering years ahead without waiting for a civil calendar to publish a “last Monday.”

The season around it is still winter-tinged in much of Ireland and the northern US: parades go out in coats. Dye in a river, green clothes, and meals with Irish associations are custom, not a test of the date. If you only need the day of the week for 2026 or 2027, use Tuesday 17 March 2026 and Wednesday 17 March 2027.

Easter can fall close to the 17th in some years and weeks away in others, because Easter is a moon-based Sunday. Saint Patrick’s Day does not move to avoid it. If they crowd each other, both keep their own rules.

Date: 17 March, every year. 2026: Tuesday. 2027: Wednesday. Ireland: a public holiday on that date. United States: not a federal holiday; local parades may use the nearest weekend when the 17th is a Sunday.

Name, date, and weekend plans

Saint and St. are the same feast. Searches that ask when is st patrick's day and when is saint patrick's day should land on one answer. Parties on the Friday after a Tuesday 17th are weekend spillover, the way a Saturday dinner can follow a Friday Valentine. They do not move the feast.

If you need a closed-office answer for Ireland, the closed day is 17 March, or the substitute weekday Ireland’s public-holiday rules name when the 17th is a weekend. If you need a parade answer in a US city, read that city’s announcement for the year; the march is a permit, not the liturgical date.

The 17th of March does not slide to make a long weekend. If you want a Monday, you will have to wait until the 17th happens to be one.