Norway — Time & Holidays

Time and holidays in Norway

Norway keeps Central European Time, UTC+1 in winter and UTC+2 in summer, switching on the usual late-March and late-October Sundays. Stretching far into the Arctic, Norway is a land of dramatic light: the midnight sun in the far north keeps the sky bright through summer nights, while the polar winter brings long darkness, which makes the daylight-saving change feel especially meaningful in the populated south around Oslo.

Constitution Day and a long Easter

Norway's national day is Constitution Day on the seventeenth of May, known as syttende mai, which commemorates the signing of the constitution in 1814. It is celebrated unlike any other national day in Europe, with children's parades, marching bands, traditional dress and a warm, family-centred atmosphere rather than military display. The rest of the calendar leans heavily on the Christian year, and Norway is notable for an unusually long Easter break that begins on Maundy Thursday and runs through Easter Monday, when many Norwegians head to mountain cabins. New Year's Day, Labour Day on the first of May, Ascension, Whit Monday and the Christmas days complete the list. Because several of these holidays move with Easter, their dates shift from year to year. The live clock above shows the current Norwegian time with the right seasonal offset.