Massachusetts State Holidays 2027

Massachusetts legal holidays in 2027

Massachusetts defines its legal holidays in chapter 4, section 7 of the General Laws, clause Eighteenth. Five are fixed dates (January 1, June 19, July 4, November 11 and Christmas Day), each moved to the following day only when it falls on a Sunday. The rest are set by rule: the third Mondays of January, February and April, the last Monday in May, the first Monday in September, the second Monday in October, and Thanksgiving Day. The third Monday in April is the one legal holiday the federal list does not have; the Trial Court's list calls it Patriots' Day, and in 2027 it is Monday, April 19.

In 2027 the Sunday clause does its work for July 4, whose legal holiday passes to Monday, July 5. June 19 and Christmas Day stay on the Saturday, so the Friday most federal employees have as their holiday is not a Massachusetts legal holiday.

The same clause makes Evacuation Day (March 17) and Bunker Hill Day (June 17) legal holidays in Suffolk County only, each moved off a Sunday, and requires state and municipal offices located in the county to be "open for business and appropriately staffed" on March 17 and June 17. In 2027 they fall on Wednesday, March 17 and Thursday, June 17. Neither is in the calendar above.

Section 9 of the same chapter is the rule for deadlines. "Except as otherwise provided", when the day or the last day for an act that a statute or a contract authorizes or requires, the making of a payment included, falls on a Sunday or a legal holiday, the act may be performed on "the next succeeding business day", unless it is specifically authorized or required to be performed on the Sunday or the holiday. Patriots' Day is the case a federal count misses: under section 9 a payment a contract requires on Monday, April 19 may be made on the next succeeding business day, although the federal business-day count treats April 19 as a working day. The section names Sundays and legal holidays; it says nothing about Saturdays.

The Executive Office of the Trial Court applies clause Eighteenth to court closures and publishes the result. Its 2027 list shows no closure for Juneteenth or Christmas Day, both Saturdays, and moves Independence Day to Monday, July 5.

Why 2027 gives Massachusetts fewer working days

A year's working days are its weekdays minus the holidays that land on them, and both halves move. The weekday supply depends only on the year's length and the weekday it starts on; the holiday half depends on where each fixed date falls that year. 2027 runs 365 days, 52 whole weeks and one day over. It opens and closes on a Friday, so the spare day is a weekday and the year holds 261 of them.

Twelve federal holidays in this page's count fall on weekdays, so Massachusetts has 249 working days in 2027. That is one fewer than 2026 (250). The weekday supply is identical, so the whole change comes from holidays: one more of them lands on a weekday. 2028 rises to 250.

Saturday and Sunday holidays in 2027

A fixed-date holiday on a weekend is where the federal, Reserve Bank and state calendars part company. For most federal employees a Saturday holiday moves to the Friday and a Sunday one to the Monday (5 U.S.C. 6103(b) and Executive Order 11582, as OPM applies them); the Federal Reserve Banks follow the Monday rule but not the Friday one; and Massachusetts has its own rule. In 2027:

• Juneteenth falls on Saturday, June 19; most federal employees have Friday, June 18 as the holiday instead. The Federal Reserve Banks are open that Friday; the Board of Governors is closed. It is not a Massachusetts legal holiday, because chapter 4, section 7 moves a holiday only off a Sunday.
• Independence Day falls on Sunday, July 4; most federal employees have Monday, July 5 as the holiday. The Federal Reserve Banks are closed that Monday too. Chapter 4, section 7 moves it to the same day, so Monday, July 5 is a Massachusetts legal holiday too.
• Christmas Day falls on Saturday, December 25; most federal employees have Friday, December 24 as the holiday instead. The Federal Reserve Banks are open that Friday; the Board of Governors is closed. It is not a Massachusetts legal holiday, because chapter 4, section 7 moves a holiday only off a Sunday.
• New Year's Day 2028 falls on Saturday, January 1, 2028, so its federal in-lieu day lands in 2027, on Friday, December 31. The Federal Reserve Banks are open that Friday; the Board of Governors is closed. It is not a Massachusetts legal holiday, because chapter 4, section 7 moves a holiday only off a Sunday.

This page's count leaves out the Friday or Monday that federal employees have as the holiday, because the count follows the federal employees' holidays. A count on the Federal Reserve Banks' schedule has one more business day across each of those Fridays.

Where Massachusetts's own calendar departs from the count in 2027

The count on this page and the Massachusetts legal-holiday calendar (General Laws chapter 4, section 7) differ only where one of them has a holiday on a weekday and the other does not. The Massachusetts calendar has Patriots' Day on Monday, April 19 as a holiday, which the federal count treats as a working day. The federal count takes out Juneteenth (observed) on Friday, June 18, Christmas Day (observed) on Friday, December 24, and New Year's Day 2028 (observed) on Friday, December 31, which the Massachusetts calendar does not.

On balance the Massachusetts calendar has 251 working days in 2027, two more than the 249 this page counts.

Where the fixed-date holidays land in 2027

A holiday tied to a calendar date moves one weekday later each year, so the week it breaks changes every year while its date stays put. Against 2026, each of these has moved one weekday on:

• New Year's Day is a Friday in 2027, after a Thursday in 2026, so on this page's count the weekend after it becomes three days off.
• Juneteenth is a Saturday in 2027, after a Friday in 2026, a weekend day, so the date itself takes no working day on this page's count; the weekend rules above decide whether a weekday is given for it.
• Independence Day is a Sunday in 2027, after a Saturday in 2026, a weekend day, so the date itself takes no working day on this page's count; the weekend rules above decide whether a weekday is given for it.
• Veterans Day is a Thursday in 2027, after a Wednesday in 2026, which leaves Friday, November 12 as a single working day before the weekend on this page's count.
• Christmas Day is a Saturday in 2027, after a Friday in 2026, a weekend day, so the date itself takes no working day on this page's count; the weekend rules above decide whether a weekday is given for it.

Ten long weekends in 2027

A weekday holiday next to a weekend turns two days off into three; two closures side by side, or one on each side of a weekend, make four or more. That is arithmetic on the dates, so the list moves every year even when the holidays do not. On this page's count, Massachusetts has ten such breaks in 2027:

• Friday, January 1 to Sunday, January 3: three days, for New Year's Day.
• Saturday, January 16 to Monday, January 18: three days, for Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
• Saturday, February 13 to Monday, February 15: three days, for Presidents' Day.
• Saturday, May 29 to Monday, May 31: three days, for Memorial Day.
• Friday, June 18 to Sunday, June 20: three days, for Juneteenth (observed).
• Saturday, July 3 to Monday, July 5: three days, for Independence Day (observed).
• Saturday, September 4 to Monday, September 6: three days, for Labor Day.
• Saturday, October 9 to Monday, October 11: three days, for Columbus Day.
• Friday, December 24 to Sunday, December 26: three days, for Christmas Day (observed).
• Friday, December 31 to Sunday, January 2, 2028: three days, for New Year's Day 2028 (observed).

On the Massachusetts calendar the breaks differ: Saturday, April 17 to Monday, April 19 (three days). Those follow the state's own holidays and do not change this page's count.

Stranded working days in 2027

A holiday on a Tuesday or a Thursday leaves one working day stranded between it and the weekend. In 2027 Massachusetts has two: Friday, November 12, next to Veterans Day and Friday, November 26, next to Thanksgiving Day. Each is a full working day on this page's count even though a day off sits on either side, so a deadline that lands on one is not pushed anywhere.

Massachusetts month by month, 2027

A month's working days are its weekdays less the holidays on them, so a month with no weekday holiday is set entirely by how its weekdays fall, and every holiday that lands midweek takes one day off the month it sits in.

The second column follows the federal set this page counts. The third follows the Massachusetts legal-holiday calendar (General Laws chapter 4, section 7), for readers dealing with that calendar directly.

Massachusetts's longest stretch without a holiday, 2027

The longest run of working days with no weekday holiday inside it depends on how far apart consecutive closures sit, so it moves whenever one fixed-date holiday changes weekday. In 2027 it runs from Tuesday, February 16 to Friday, May 28 inside the first half of the year: 74 working days, 14 full working weeks and four days.

The first working day of 2027 on this count is Monday, January 4, after New Year's Day. The last is Thursday, December 30, which is the latest date a count of working days can end on inside 2027.

Which calendar the 2027 count uses

The working-day total counts the legal public holidays of 5 U.S.C. 6103 on the dates most federal employees have them, as OPM publishes them. It is not identical to the Federal Reserve Banks' calendar. The Board of Governors' K.8 schedule states that the Federal Reserve Banks are open on the Friday before a Saturday holiday, and in 2027 that means Friday, June 18, Friday, December 24, and Friday, December 31. A count on the Reserve Banks' schedule has one more business day across each of those Fridays than this page's count shows.

The Massachusetts legal-holiday calendar (General Laws chapter 4, section 7) is shown in the table and never subtracted from the count.