When is Victory in Europe Day?
In 2026, Victory in Europe Day falls on Friday, May 8, 2026. It is classified here as a French public holiday.
History of Victory in Europe Day
May 8 commemorates the Allied victory over Nazi Germany in Europe in 1945. An initial surrender was signed at Reims on May 7, followed by a definitive act in Berlin on May 8; General Jean de Lattre de Tassigny signed there as France’s witness. The date ended the war in Europe, not the wider Second World War, which continued in Asia until Japan’s surrender.
For France, victory carries a complex national memory. The ceremonies recall military liberation and Resistance while also confronting occupation, the collaborationist Vichy state, racial persecution and deportation. The Ministry of the Armed Forces therefore presents the day as both a celebration of freedom restored and a solemn tribute to combatants, deportees, civilians and all who suffered under the war.
The commemoration’s official status changed several times after 1945. It was moved, downgraded and later discontinued as a holiday before Parliament restored May 8 as a public holiday in 1981. Today the President leads the Paris ceremony, while mayors, veterans, standard-bearers and schoolchildren gather at monuments throughout France to read messages, lay wreaths and observe silence.
How Victory in Europe Day is observed
May 8 is a nationwide legal public holiday and national commemoration, with official ceremonies in Paris and at municipal war memorials.
Traditions of Victory in Europe Day
Wreath-laying ceremonies
Mayors, veterans, service members and residents gather at local monuments to lay wreaths and hear the national message.
Paris remembrance
The national ceremony links official tributes at key memorial sites with the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier beneath the Arc de Triomphe.
Transmission to younger generations
Schools, museums and local associations use personal testimony, exhibitions and memorial visits to explain occupation, resistance and deportation.
Dates and observance rules are checked against the official French public-holiday law and government guidance. Alsace-Moselle has additional regional public holidays; employer and local-service schedules can differ.
History sources: Ministry of the Armed Forces: national day of May 8, 1945, Légifrance: Labour Code Article L3133-1.
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