Cameroon public holidays
Statutory legal holidays (fetes legales) of the Republic of Cameroon for calendar year 2026.
| Current value | 10 days held |
|---|---|
| In force from | 2026-01-01 |
| In force until | 2026-12-31 |
| Official source | Loi n°73/5 du 7 decembre 1973 fixant le regime des fetes legales en Republique Unie du Cameroun, articles 1 to 4 (still in force; abrogated ordonnance n°72/15 du 16 septembre 1972) |
| Last verified | 2026-07-20 |
| Verification | primary — No verification limitation recorded — read from the official source cited. |
| Provenance | source fingerprint |
What this value means
STATUTORY BASIS: Loi n°73/5 of 7 December 1973 defines two categories. Article 2 (fetes legales civiles, celebrated throughout the territory): Jour de l'An (1 January), Fete de la Jeunesse (11 February), Fete du Travail (1 May), Fete Nationale (20 May). Article 3 (fetes legales religieuses): Ascension, Vendredi Saint, Assomption (15 August), Noel (25 December), fete de fin de Ramadan (Djoulde Soumae / Aid el-Fitr), fete du Mouton (Djoulde Laihadji / Aid el-Adha). Ten days total; the law names no others. SUBSTITUTION RULES APPLIED: article 2 in fine provides that when a CIVIL legal holiday falls on a Sunday or on another public holiday, the following day is assimilated to it for working-conditions and pay purposes. In 2026 no civil holiday falls on a Sunday or collides with another holiday (1 Jan Thu, 11 Feb Wed, 1 May Fri, 20 May Wed), so no civil substitution is triggered. Article 3 in fine provides that when a RELIGIOUS legal holiday falls on a Sunday or another public holiday the President MAY, by arrete, declare the following day 'ferie non chome' - this is discretionary, not automatic, and in 2026 no religious holiday falls on a Sunday (Assomption 15 Aug 2026 is a Saturday, which does not trigger the article). Article 4 allows the President by arrete to declare the eve or the day after a legal holiday to be ferie when the holiday falls on a Friday or a Tuesday ('pont'); this is discretionary and no such 2026 arrete was located, so none is included - candidates in 2026 would be Vendredi Saint (3 Apr, Fri), Fete du Travail (1 May, Fri) and Noel (25 Dec, Fri). CHOMAGE: article 5 makes closure compulsory on civil holidays for all workers, but NOT compulsory on religious holidays for workers over 18; article 8 gives a worker who works a legal holiday double pay; article 7 protects monthly-paid wages. PROVISIONAL DATES: the two Islamic holidays depend on local sighting of the crescent moon and are announced in Cameroon shortly beforehand; the dates given are astronomical estimates for 1 Shawwal 1447 and 10 Dhu al-Hijjah 1447 and may shift by +/-1 day. Several holiday aggregators publish 19 March 2026 and 26 May 2026 respectively; no official Cameroonian 2026 declaration was located, so treat both dates as unconfirmed. DELIBERATE EXCLUSIONS: Easter Monday, Whit Monday, 1 October (former Southern Cameroons reunification, not a statutory feriee), and Mawlid are NOT legal holidays under Loi n°73/5. ACCESS QUIRK: the official minfopra.gov.cm copy of the law now returns 404 on the live site; the citation above is a pre-existing Internet Archive snapshot (4 June 2025) of that official URL. Text is French.
Get it programmatically
curl https://afriref.dev/v1/cm/public-holidays
# Free.
# History: curl https://afriref.dev/v1/cm/public-holidays/history?from=2020-01-01
# Provenance: curl https://afriref.dev/provenance/cm/public-holidaysOther Cameroon series: policy interest rate · VAT rate · minimum wage · inflation rate (CPI) · corporate tax rate · income tax rates