What Is the Difference Between an Observed Holiday and an Observance?
An Observed Holiday is when a public federal holiday is celebrated on a date that is not the actual event's anniversary date
An Observed Holiday is when a public federal holiday is celebrated on a date that is not the actual event's anniversary date. It is different from an observance in notable ways that we explore in the post below. If tracking either is important for your business, PredictHQ tracks all public holidays, observances, school holidays and academic holidays globally so you don’t need to worry about tracking them manually. Find out more here.
To understand this difference between an observed holiday and an observance, here are two examples of observed holidays. If July 4th (Independence Day) falls on a Saturday, it is "observed" on the Friday before as a holiday (and is usually a day off work). When a federal holiday falls on a weekend, the holiday is usually observed the Friday before or the Monday after. Below is a list of the federal holidays:
New Years Day
this holiday is celebrated on the anniversary date, January 1
Martin Luther King Jr. Birthday
this is observed on the third Monday of January
Presidents Day
this is observed on the third Monday of each February
Memorial Day
this is observed on the last Monday of May
Independence Day
this holiday is celebrated on the anniversary date, July 4
Labor Day
this is observed on the first Monday of each September
Indigenous Peoples’ Day
this holiday is celebrated on the second Monday of each October
Veterans Day
this holiday is celebrated on the anniversary date, November 11
Thanksgiving Day
this holiday is celebrated on the fourth Thursday of each November
Christmas Day
this holiday is celebrated on the anniversary date, December 25
Observances, on the other hand, are remembrance, awareness and celebration days or events that are not normally days off work, like Valentine's Day, Mother's Day or Father's Day.
Find out more about PredictHQ and our real-world event data
PredictHQ is a demand intelligence solution to help businesses reliability correlate event data to demand. We track event data in 19 event categories and rank events using a proprietary ranking system. Here’s how ranking works.
While holidays impact demand, using PredictHQ's other event categories allow you to look at the impact of other types of events on demand. For example business events like conferences and expos also drive a lot of demand for many business, while for others concerts, festivals and performing arts have a bigger impact. PredictHQ provides detailed expansive coverage in these and many other categories which when combined with holidays gives you a detailed picture of how events drive demand for your business.
Did you know School Holidays impact business demand?
There are too many school holidays to track globally, and they can impact your business significantly. For instance, summer school holidays in San Francisco, United States impact occupancy rates for hotels as well as other accommodations nearby. Knowing when holidays occur through reliable global school holidays data enables your business to be prepared and to understand market trends better. You can use School Holidays event data into your current forecasting models and improve accuracy.
Did you know Observances impact business demand?
Think of events like Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, and many more others worldwide. Imagine the impact these events can have on your business demand, and then many countries and localities, which have their own regional observances your business might not have insight into. It’s important to track global observances at scale so, you aren’t caught unprepared and may miss the opportunity to update your staffing, inventory and pricing strategies.
Did you know Public Holidays impact business demand?
Big Public Holidays like Boxing Day, Fourth of July and Labor Day have a huge impact on business but what about other public holidays that you might not be aware of until it's too late to update your strategies? We can help you to track public holidays at scale and avoid not understanding the impact they have on your business demand.
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