California superior courts are closed on the judicial holidays of Code of Civil Procedure § 135, which is the Government Code § 6700 list with several days removed and one added. A Saturday judicial holiday is observed on the preceding Friday and a Sunday one on the following Monday (Cal. Rules of Court, rule 1.11). The Judicial Council publishes the dates each year, and the 2027 list below is the official one.
The fifteen closed weekdays
Three 2027 holidays fall on a weekend and move: Farmworkers Day (Saturday, April 10) to Friday, April 9; Juneteenth (Saturday, June 19) to Friday, June 18; and Christmas (Saturday, December 25) to Friday, December 24. Independence Day on a Sunday moves to Monday, July 5. New Year’s Day 2028 is also a Saturday, so is a judicial holiday too, and the year ends with the courts closed on both Fridays.
| Date | Holiday |
|---|---|
| New Year's Day | |
| Martin Luther King, Jr. Day | |
| Lincoln's Birthday | |
| Presidents' Day | |
| Farmworkers Day (observed) | |
| Memorial Day | |
| Juneteenth (observed) | |
| Independence Day (observed) | |
| Labor Day | |
| Native American Day | |
| Veterans Day | |
| Thanksgiving Day | |
| Day after Thanksgiving | |
| Christmas Day (observed) | |
| New Year's Day 2028 (observed) |
Source: Judicial Council court holidays 2027; Cal. Rules of Court, rule 1.11; S.F. Superior Court 2027 schedule · verified 2026-11-06.
State holidays on which the courts stay open
Section 135 leaves out several days that § 6700 declares holidays: Lunar New Year, Sylvia Mendez Day, Genocide Remembrance Day, Admission Day, Columbus Day, Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha, and any day the Governor appoints. On those days the courts are open, the day counts in a court-day count, and a period ending on it does not move. The one day that goes the other way is the day after Thanksgiving, : a judicial holiday, though it is not on the state list.
Why the longer list still matters
A federal court sitting in California applies the state’s declared holidays to a period counted forward (Fed. R. Civ. P. 6(a)(6)(C)). The Ninth Circuit has held that the day after Thanksgiving qualifies, and the federal calculator treats the other § 135 days on their statutory dates the same way, while flagging the § 6700-only days, such as Columbus Day and Lunar New Year, whose effect in federal court is undecided. The second table shows that list for 2027.
| Date | Holiday |
|---|---|
| New Year's Day | |
| Martin Luther King, Jr. Day | |
| Lunar New Year weekend — no weekday off | |
| Lincoln Day | |
| Washington Day | |
| Farmworkers Day weekend — no weekday off | |
| Sylvia Mendez Day | |
| Genocide Remembrance Day weekend — no weekday off | |
| Memorial Day | |
| Juneteenth weekend — no weekday off | |
| Independence Day (observed) | |
| Labor Day | |
| Admission Day | |
| Native American Day | |
| Columbus Day | |
| Veterans Day | |
| Thanksgiving Day | |
| Christmas Day weekend — no weekday off |
Source: Gov. Code § 6700 as amended by SB 1394, AB 2017 and AB 2294 (Stats. 2026); Lunar New Year date per Hong Kong Observatory · verified 2026-11-06.
Counting court days around a holiday
Most California motion deadlines are counted in court days (§ 1005(b): 16 before the hearing for the notice, 9 for the opposition, 5 for the reply), so every holiday inside the period is skipped, not only a closed last day. Thanksgiving week 2027 removes two court days, Thursday and Friday; a 9-court-day opposition period that spans it stretches to almost two and a half weeks. The court days calculator applies this list for the count.
Download the California 2027 list
- California judicial holidays 2027: iCalendar (.ics) · CSV
- California state holidays (Gov. Code § 6700) 2027: iCalendar (.ics) · CSV
The files are regenerated whenever a list changes; the changelog records each change, and the 2027 overview shows every system side by side.
Questions about california holidays in 2027
Are California courts closed on Columbus Day 2027?
No. Columbus Day () is a state holiday under Gov. Code § 6700 but not a judicial holiday under Code Civ. Proc. § 135, so superior courts are open and the day counts as a court day. A federal court in California does treat it as a state holiday for a deadline counted forward.
When is Farmworkers Day observed by California courts in 2027?
. The holiday falls on Saturday, April 10, and Cal. Rules of Court, rule 1.11 moves a Saturday judicial holiday to the preceding Friday. The state’s § 6700 list keeps it on the Saturday.
Is December 31, 2027 a court holiday in California?
Yes. New Year’s Day 2028 falls on a Saturday, and rule 1.11 moves the judicial holiday to , so the courts are closed and a period ending that day runs to (Code Civ. Proc. § 12a).