When is All Saints’ Day?
In 2026, All Saints’ Day falls on Sunday, November 1, 2026. It is classified here as a paid public holiday.
History of All Saints’ Day
All Saints’ Day is the Christian feast honouring the saints and is fixed on November 1 in the Congolese holiday law. It should be distinguished from All Souls’ Day on November 2, even though family and public remembrance of deceased people often spans both dates and Congolese reporting sometimes describes November 1 through that broader memorial practice.
The feast appeared in the 1964 holiday law and was reaffirmed as non-working and paid in 1994. A documented Brazzaville observance in 2024 included a government wreath at the Moukoundzi-Ngouaka cemetery, a national-anthem ceremony and remembrance of both well-known and unidentified people buried there. That official example does not imply that every locality or family follows the same cemetery ritual.
All Saints’ Day is one of the legal holidays that article 1 of Law 2-94 declares a holiday, non-working and paid throughout the Republic of the Congo. Article 2 allows the labour minister to declare other days non-working and/or paid for important events, but neither provision establishes an automatic Monday substitute or bridge day when a listed holiday falls at a weekend. Essential-service rosters may still operate under specific government notices.
How All Saints’ Day is observed
Paid nationwide legal holiday on Sunday, November 1, 2026. No automatic Monday substitute is created by Law 2-94.
Traditions of All Saints’ Day
Household and community practice
Christian families may attend worship, clean or visit graves, bring flowers and remember deceased relatives, sometimes continuing memorial activity on November 2. Customs differ between Brazzaville, Pointe-Noire, departmental towns and rural communities, and participation is not uniform across faiths or households.
Public or religious programme
Churches arrange All Saints liturgies, while government or municipal representatives may hold wreath-laying ceremonies at particular cemeteries or memorials. The relevant authority, congregation or organiser publishes the actual venue, timing and participation arrangements.
Planning the holiday
Check cemetery access, transport and Monday schedules separately because Sunday placement does not itself move the statutory holiday. Banks, markets, transport, health care, hospitality, communications and utilities may maintain duty services, so a paid legal holiday should not be read as a universal shutdown.
Dates and observance rules are checked against the official Republic of the Congo official holiday calendar or legislation. Government, regional, school and employer schedules in Republic of the Congo may differ; check the linked official source and current local notices before making time-sensitive plans.
History sources: Ministry of Finance: Law 2-94 on legal, non-working and paid holidays, Secretariat-General of the Government: 1964 legal-holiday law, Official Gazette: Laws 18-2010 and 19-2010 on Republic Day and National Day, Congolese News Agency: 2026 Whit Monday government notice, Congolese News Agency: April 16, 2026 inauguration closure, Congolese News Agency: 2026 National Concord commemoration, Embassy of the Republic of the Congo: national history, Presidency: Independence Day military programme, Presidency: history of Republic Day, Congolese News Agency: All Saints’ Day cemetery commemoration.
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