After the festive break, many of us are dreading the return to work. But fear not, 2025 is here and with it comes a fresh set of bank holidays for you to mark in your calendar. In England and Wales, we've already had our first bank holiday on January 1, with the next one due in April. Just a heads up, 'bank holiday' means a public weekday when banks are legally closed, but do check with your employer as they're not obliged to give you the day off.
There's also a campaign underway for an extra bank holiday in 2025 to commemorate a significant anniversary in our nation's history. Here's the full list of bank holidays for 2025 in England and Wales:
- Wednesday 1 January - New Year's Day
- Friday 18 April - Good Friday
- Monday 21 April - Easter Sunday
- Monday 5 May - Early May bank holiday
- Monday 26 May - Spring bank holiday
- Monday 25 August - Summer bank holiday
- Thursday 25 December - Christmas Day
- Friday 26 December - Boxing Day
Why might we get an extra bank holiday?
A recent campaign aims to establish another bank holiday this year to mark the 75th anniversary of VE Day, marking the end of World War II in Europe. According to a Mirror poll, a whopping 73% of people support a public holiday, while only 13% oppose commemorating the day Nazi Germany finally surrendered to allied forces, reports the Mirror.
Colonel Richard Kemp, former British commander in Afghanistan, weighed in on the Mirror and Deltapoll survey results, saying, "The results of this survey are pretty positive because it shows people do think the end of the war is a significant day to remember. It is very important to mark these important occasions because memories fade as time goes by and people ought to appreciate what sacrifices were made at that time."
However, he noted the unlikelihood of a VE Day bank holiday, referencing last year's statement from a Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) spokesperson who confirmed there would be no extra bank holiday for VE Day in 2025. The piece also touched on the ongoing campaign by trade unions for an additional annual day off, highlighting that England and Wales have fewer bank holidays than other parts of the UK and many European countries.
Suggestions have been made to turn St George's Day and St David's Day into public holidays, similar to St Andrew's Day in Scotland.
