School holidays September 2026 cluster tightly this year. Milad-un-Nabi (Eid-e-Milad), Onam, Raksha Bandhan, Janmashtami and Ganesh Chaturthi all fall between 25 August and 14 September 2026. The Government of India’s official 2026 holiday calendar marks these as gazetted and restricted holidays, and most CBSE-affiliated and state board schools build their own calendars around it. Below are the confirmed dates, the official sources behind them, and an honest note on what we could not verify this time.
School holidays September 2026: CBSE and national list
The dates below come from two official sources. The first is the Government of India gazetted holiday list for 2026, published by a central government institute and based on the Department of Personnel and Training’s annual circular. The second is a Press Information Bureau release, dated 7 November 2025, which lists the closed and restricted holidays for Central Government offices. CBSE plans its academic session around these same festival dates, as the 2026-27 academic calendar shows.
| Holiday | Date | Day | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Milad-un-Nabi * | 25–26 Aug | Tue/Wed | Gazetted |
| Onam | 26 Aug | Wed | Closed (Kerala); restricted elsewhere |
| Raksha Bandhan | 28 Aug | Fri | Restricted |
| Janmashtami | 4 Sep | Fri | Gazetted |
| Ganesh Chaturthi | 14 Sep | Mon | Restricted; closed in MH & south |
* Milad-un-Nabi’s date depends on moon sighting — the national gazetted list marks 26 August, while Kerala’s central-office list marks 25 August.
Why does Eid-e-Milad show two dates? Moon sighting decides the exact day, so it can shift by a day depending on the region and the local moon-sighting committee. We cite both the national gazetted list and the Kerala-specific central government list above, instead of picking a single “correct” date. The government’s own lists genuinely differ by a day, and we would rather show that than guess.
Raksha Bandhan 2026 school holiday date
Raksha Bandhan falls on Friday, 28 August 2026. The Government of India’s 2026 holiday circular lists it as a restricted (also called optional) holiday, alongside Fourth Onam, Avani Avittom and Ayyankali Jayanthi, which share the same date this year.
A restricted holiday works differently from a gazetted one: each school or office picks a fixed number of such days to actually observe. So whether your child’s school closes on 28 August depends on that school’s own list, not a single national rule. However, most schools that mark Raksha Bandhan do close on this date, since it is a widely observed family festival. This is the one claim in this piece that is genuinely school-specific, and we cannot confirm it as universal from a central circular alone.
What we could not confirm this time
This piece deliberately sticks to the Government of India’s central holiday calendar, a genuinely official and dated source. However, it does not confirm state-by-state or school-by-school variation.
Each state’s school education department sets its own academic calendar for UP, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan, Maharashtra and Delhi. These calendars generally track the same festival dates, but individual states sometimes shift a holiday by a day, combine it with a weekend, or add local observances not on the central list. We checked for official state circulars for late August to September 2026 and did not find one that was reachable and machine-readable at the time of writing. As a result, we are leaving state-wise dates out of this piece rather than guess. Check your own school’s notice board, its official calendar, or the PrincipalSaab Important Dates page, which we update whenever an official state notice becomes available.
Why this matters for parents planning ahead
With four festival dates inside three weeks, several schools bridge a holiday with the nearest weekend. This effectively creates a long weekend around 28 August or 4-5 September. For example, if you are planning travel, extra classes, or coaching around these dates, including the free SATHEE JEE, NEET and CUET coaching sessions, check your child’s actual school calendar rather than assuming the central dates apply exactly.
Meanwhile, board exam candidates should watch their board’s own published date sheet, such as the MP Board 2027 date sheet for Madhya Pradesh students. Holiday clusters can affect revision planning closer to exams, so it pays to plan early.
Always confirm on the official website before acting.