When is Good Friday?
In 2026, Good Friday falls on Friday, April 10, 2026. It is classified here as a Serbian public holiday.
History of Good Friday
Good Friday commemorates the crucifixion of Jesus and begins the Orthodox Easter holiday period in Serbia. Church services are solemn, and many households continue the fasting practices of Holy Week while preparing food, eggs and family arrangements for Easter.
Serbia’s Ministry of Labour specifies that Easter non-working days run from Good Friday through the second day of Easter. The feast is calculated by the Julian-calendar Orthodox paschalion, so its Gregorian civil date moves each year and does not always coincide with Western Easter.
Serbia’s nationwide religious break follows the Orthodox paschal calendar and legally runs from Good Friday through the second day of Easter inclusive. Good Friday is therefore the first of four consecutive non-working dates, not an isolated observance. Religious holidays do not use the state-holiday Sunday substitution rule. Catholic and other Christian employees have a parallel personal entitlement for Easter dates according to their own calendar, but the nationwide calendar and public-service closure follow the Orthodox calculation used here.
How Good Friday is observed
A nationwide non-working religious holiday on Orthodox Good Friday. The statutory Easter break continues through Orthodox Easter Monday.
Traditions of Good Friday
Solemn church services
Parishes hold services centred on Christ’s Passion, including veneration of the epitaphios or plaštanica and restrained liturgical music.
Strict fasting
Observant households keep a fasting table without meat or dairy, with individual practice guided by health and church custom.
Dyeing the first red egg
Families often prepare eggs on Good Friday, setting aside a first red čuvarkuća egg as a household guardian symbol.
Dates and observance rules are checked against the official Serbian government holiday guidance. Religious leave, school calendars and private-employer schedules may differ from the general public-holiday calendar.
History sources: Ministry of Labour: state and religious holidays of Serbia, Ministry of Foreign Affairs: public and other holidays in Serbia, National Bank of Serbia: annual non-working days and commemorations, Government of Serbia: Orthodox Easter greeting.
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