When is All Saints’ Day?
In 2026, All Saints’ Day falls on Saturday, October 31, 2026. It is classified here as a Finnish public holiday.
History of All Saints’ Day
All Saints’ Day, Pyhäinpäivä, combines remembrance of Christian saints and of the faithful departed in Finland’s Lutheran calendar. Medieval Europe distinguished All Saints on November 1 from All Souls on November 2, but the Finnish feast now draws both themes together. Until 1772 it was fixed on November 1; the modern calendar places it on the Saturday between October 31 and November 6 inclusive.
Visiting graves with candles became especially widespread after the Second World War. The practice answers Finland’s dark November landscape with thousands of small lights and gives remembrance a public, shared form without requiring families to speak about grief in the same way. Lutheran churches may read the names of parish members who died during the year, while people of varied beliefs participate at cemeteries.
All Saints’ Day is a statutory church and public holiday. It is always Saturday, so Finland does not create a substitute weekday. Its atmosphere differs from Halloween: costume events occur in Finland, but Pyhäinpäivä itself remains principally a quiet day of graves, services and family memory. The statutory range includes November 6, a detail the date formula must preserve in years when that date is Saturday.
How All Saints’ Day is observed
A nationwide church and public holiday on the Saturday from October 31 through November 6 inclusive, without a substitute weekday.
Traditions of All Saints’ Day
Candles at graves
Families visit cemeteries after dusk and place protected candles on relatives’ graves or at communal memorials for those buried elsewhere.
Names in church
Many Lutheran parishes remember members who died during the year through names, bells, prayer and restrained seasonal music.
Quiet family remembrance
Meals, photographs and conversations at home give families space to remember the dead without adopting Halloween’s carnival character.
Dates and observance rules are checked against the official Finnish legal and calendar guidance. Flag days and cultural observances do not automatically mean a general day off.
History sources: Finlex: Church Act 652/2023, Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland: other holy days, University of Helsinki Almanac Office: flag days and holidays.
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