Holidays

On 1 September 2006, Bahrain changed its weekend from being Thursdays and Fridays to Fridays and Saturdays, in order to have a day of the weekend shared with the rest of the world. Other non-regular holidays are listed below:

Date	English name	Local (Arabic) name	Description
1 January	New Year's Day	رأس السنة الميلادية	The Gregorian New Year's Day, celebrated by most parts of the world.
1 May	Labour Day	يوم العمال
16 December	National Day	اليوم الوطني	National Day, Accession Day for the late Amir Sh. Isa Bin Salman Al Khalifa
17 December	Accession Day	يوم الجلوس
1st Muharram	Islamic New Year	رأس السنة الهجرية	Islamic New Year (also known as: Hijri New Year).
9th, 10th Muharram	Day of Ashura	عاشوراء	Commemorates the martyrdom of Imam Hussein.
12th Rabiul Awwal	Prophet Muhammad's birthday	المولد النبوي	Commemorates Prophet Muhammad's birthday, celebrated in most parts of the muslim world.
1st, 2nd, 3rd Shawwal	Little Feast	عيد الفطر	Commemorates end of Ramadan.
9th Zulhijjah	Arafat Day	يوم عرفة
10th, 11th, 12th Zulhijjah	Feast of the Sacrifice	عيد الأضحى	Commemorates Ibrahim's willingness to sacrifice his son. Also known as the Big Feast (celebrated from the 10th to 13th).