Christmas and New Year holidays are long gone and many of us are already back in full productive mode by now (probably).
But for those who can’t stop thinking about their future travel plans, there’s no need to worry since there are going to be many long weekends and public holidays in Indonesia 2016.
We’ve created a handy holiday calendar to let you know when you’ll be getting your government mandated days off this year, and it will also hopefully help you plan your leave days wisely in order to have as much liburan time as possible.
January
There are no public holidays in January, which shouldn’t be a problem since most of us would’ve just returned from Christmas and New Year holidays anyway. Make use of this month to get back in the swing of things at work.
February
Thanks to Chinese New Years, we get to kick off the Year of the Monkey with a three-day weekend from Feb 5-7. Valentine’s Day is definitely not a holiday in Indonesia, so if you want to take a quick romantic getaway this is your chance.
March
The Balinese Day of Silence (Nyepi) falls on March 9th, which is a Wednesday. So if you strategically take leave on the 7th and the 8th, that gives you 5 days off, during which you can probably go to Bali to observe Nyepi with locals (but everything will be shut there on the 9th).
Next up is a long weekend starting on March 25th for Good Friday. Most people would’ve been paid just before then, meaning one should have enough money to have an eventful long weekend.
April
No official public holidays here, but you can at least try to fool your employers into giving you a day off on April 1st, which falls on a Friday.
May
Unfortunately, May Day (May 1st) falls on a Sunday, meaning we won’t be able get an extra day off just chilling around while workers around the world protest for their rights.
Not to worry, since we’ll all get a 4-day weekend soon afterwards. The Ascension of Christ falls on Thursday the 5th, followed by Isra’ and Mi’raj the next day.
But we can’t have it all this month. The next public holiday, Vesak, falls on May 22nd, which is once again a Sunday.
June
Time to turn on the mid-year productivity mode as there are no public holidays in June.
July
Eid-Al-Fitr is predicted to fall on the 6th and 7th, which are Wednesday and Thursday respectively. But that’s not all the holiday we’re getting in July – collective leave days are set for the 4th, 5th, and 8th, meaning we’ll have that whole week off.
And of course, people tend to take advantage of their leave days during this month to extend their holidays anyway.
August
Indonesian Independence Day awkwardly falls on a Wednesday. This would be a good opportunity to take leave on the 2 preceding and/or succeeding days for an even longer holiday.
September
Another awesome long weekend beckons towards the middle of September as Eid-Al-Adha falls on the 12th, which is a Monday.
October
This is the third time of the year that the holiday gods are being cruel to us, as the only public holiday of the month, the Islamic New Year, falls on Sunday the 2nd.
November
Even crueler still, there are no public holidays in November. At least it should be the monsoon season by then (though it wasn’t in November 2015), so we’ll have rain and floods to keep us company.
December
The cruelty just won’t stop! Despite getting a long weekend for Maulid Nabi, which falls on Monday the 12th, we’re only getting a long weekend for Christmas as the 25th falls on a Sunday and the Christmas holiday is only officially two days long. To make things worse, the first day of 2017 also falls on a Sunday, meaning we won’t get a long weekend there.
Our advice: save up your annual leave for December in order to have a long, worthwhile end to your holidays.
This article was translated from an original feature by Coconuts Indonesia.
