These holidays are legally declared free and they are different from the days of the weekend. However, there are public institutions, which have to work on these days too. They are sanitary institutions, alimentation units, organizations where production process cannot be interrupted, or police stations.



The employees of these institutions have the right to compensate with corresponding free time, provided during the following 30 days. Nowadays according to the Work Code, public holidays in Romania are as follows: 1st and 2nd January on the occasion of the New Year; Easter days are in April or May and people of different religions can enjoy two free days according to the time of their Easter days.

Furthermore 1st day of May is the International Work Day and 1st December is Romania's National Day. On that date, they celebrate the union between Transylvania and the Romanian Kingdom, which led to the foundation of modern Romania. This event took place in 1918. To continue, Christmas days are on 25th and 26th December, when everybody gets together with beloved members of the family and celebrate these special days.

Moreover, Romania has as well other important holidays in the list. Thus, on the 24th January they celebrate the union between Moldavia and Walachia when Alexandru Ioan Cuza was elected ruler of both counties. This event took place in 1859.

A special day in the list of Romanian holidays is March 8, when it is celebrated women's day. It is a day when kids in schools express their love for their mothers and female teachers, when husbands offer flowers and presents to their wives and women usually celebrate their day having a girls party somewhere.

In Romania, heroes who fought in different armed conflicts are celebrated on Ascension Day and on June 1 it is celebrated Children's day. On this occasion children take part in different competitions, like drawing contests or sport competitions corresponding to their ages. The national flag's day is celebrated on the 26 of June. By the way, the colours of the Romanian flag are red, yellow and blue. Red stands for the blood spilled by heroes, yellow stands for the rich summer crops and blue stands for hope in a better destiny.

June 29 is Romanian national anthem day. This solemn song is sung on the lyrics written by a Romanian poet and its title "Desteapta-te, romane!" can be translated as "Romanians, fight for your rights!" On December 8, they celebrate Constitution Day, in the memory of the day when the current constitution was adopted in 1991.

Finally, two special holidays for young people are celebrated on 24 February and on 1 March. The first one is the equivalent of Valentine's Day and it is called Dragobetele, and the second one is a special day when children and men offer "martisoare", some tiny talismans, to the people they love, but especially to women and girls.