New Year’s Day
1 January 2027
New Year’s Day is 1 January, the first day of the Gregorian year and the oldest fixed date on the American holiday calendar. It is a federal holiday, and federal offices, banks and post offices close. In 2027 it falls on a Friday. The holiday is observed in every state, and in most of them it is a legal holiday as well.
It was one of the first four holidays Congress gave to federal workers. On 28 June 1870, Congress passed a law granting time off to employees in the District of Columbia on New Year’s Day, Independence Day, Thanksgiving and Christmas. Federal employees outside the capital were covered by later laws passed in the 1870s and 1880s.
Because the date is fixed, the observance moves when it lands on a weekend: when 1 January falls on a Saturday, federal employees are off the preceding Friday, and when it falls on a Sunday they are off the following Monday. In 2027 it falls on a Friday, so no substitute day is needed; the next time it falls on a Saturday is 2028.
The evening before carries the customs. Watch Night services in Black churches run past midnight, and the first meal of the new year is often black-eyed peas, collard greens and cornbread, dishes with African and Caribbean roots. The day itself is quiet: most shops are closed, and the college football bowl games fill the afternoon for people who watch them.
It is not tied to a ceremony the way the Fourth of July, Veterans Day and Memorial Day are. Federal offices, banks and post offices stay closed, and the roads are quiet. The next federal holiday comes on the third Monday in January, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, which in 2027 falls on 18 January.
Sources
- Congressional Research Service, “Federal Holidays: Evolution and Current Practices” (R41990)
- U.S. Office of Personnel Management, “Federal Holidays”
- Timeanddate.com, “Holidays and Observances in the United States in 2027”
- National Museum of African American History and Culture, “The Historical Legacy of Watch Night”
- New York Stock Exchange, “Holidays & Trading Hours”
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