Holiday calendar subscriptions let you see public holidays, regional observances, and religious festivals automatically in your calendar. They work via iCalendar (.ics) feeds that your app periodically refreshes, so new dates appear without manual entry. This guide explains how .ics holiday feeds work, how to choose the correct country or region, why all-day holidays can look different across apps, and how to keep everything clean, deduplicated, and up-to-date.

What is a holiday calendar subscription (.ics)?

An iCalendar or .ics feed is a standard, read-only URL that your calendar app subscribes to. Your app checks the feed on a schedule (every few hours to daily, depending on the service) and adds or updates events—from New Year’s Day to state or provincial holidays—automatically. Because it’s read-only, you don’t edit the feed; instead, you pick a trustworthy source and the events simply appear.

How holiday .ics feeds work under the hood

Most holiday feeds publish VEVENT entries in the iCalendar format (RFC 5545). Common fields include:

  • UID: a unique identifier per event, used to know when something changes.
  • DTSTART/DTEND: the start and end of the event. For all-day holidays, the best practice is DATE values (for example, DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251225) with exclusive end (DTEND: next day).
  • SUMMARY: the holiday name (e.g., "Independence Day").
  • RRULE/RDATE/EXDATE: recurrence rules and exceptions, often used for holidays like Thanksgiving (fourth Thursday in November).
  • SEQUENCE: increments when an event is updated so your app knows to refresh it.

Clients typically refresh feeds automatically, but the interval varies by platform and provider. Some server-side subscriptions (e.g., Google Calendar, iCloud, Microsoft 365) refresh on their own schedule and push updates to all your devices that use the same account.

Choosing the right country and region

Picking the correct feed is the most important step. The right choice determines which dates appear and whether "observed" days are included.

Start with your country

  • Global options: Most major calendar services offer built-in holiday calendars (Google: "Holidays in [Country]"; Apple: regional Holiday calendar; Microsoft/Outlook: Holiday calendars by region). These are reliable and easy to enable.
  • Official sources: Government or national statistics offices sometimes publish official .ics files. These are authoritative but may be updated less frequently.
  • Community-maintained feeds: Projects like open‑source holiday calendars can cover many countries with decent accuracy, and often include state/province options.

Drill down to your region or state/province

In many countries, public holidays vary by region. If you need accurate day-off planning, use a regional feed:

  • UK: England & Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland differ on certain bank holidays.
  • Canada: Provinces like Ontario, Quebec, and BC have unique observances.
  • Australia: State-based holidays (e.g., VIC, NSW) and local public holidays.
  • Germany: Länder-specific holidays (e.g., Bavaria, Berlin).
  • Spain: National, autonomous community, and municipal layers.
  • Switzerland: Canton-based differences are common.

When in doubt, subscribe to the narrowest feed that matches your workplace or school policy. If you travel or coordinate internationally, you can add multiple regional feeds but you must manage duplicates (more on that below).

Religious and cultural calendars

Dates for religious holidays (e.g., Ramadan/Eid, Passover, Easter, Diwali) can depend on local traditions, astronomical calculations, or sighting methodologies. Choose a feed from your local religious authority or clearly documented methodology to avoid unexpected shifts. Some providers publish both "calculated" and "locally observed" versions—pick the one that aligns with your community.

Observed vs. actual dates: what to know

Many countries move the day off when a holiday falls on a weekend (e.g., observed Monday). Good feeds distinguish between the actual date (e.g., July 4) and the observed day (e.g., Monday, July 5). How this appears varies:

  • Single event with note: "Independence Day (Observed)" on Monday only.
  • Two events: July 4 as the holiday, plus a separate "Observed" event on Monday.
  • Observed only: Some corporate calendars show only the day off.

Pick a feed that matches your needs. If you only care about office closures, choose a feed that focuses on observed holidays. If you want historical accuracy, choose one that shows both. In Google’s built-in holiday calendar, you can adjust content under the calendar’s Settings (e.g., display public holidays only).

Why all-day holidays sometimes shift a day across apps

One of the most common headaches is an all-day holiday appearing a day early or late when viewed in another app or time zone. This usually happens for three reasons:

  • Incorrect time encoding: All-day events should use DATE values without time zones (e.g., DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251225). If a feed encodes an all-day event as midnight-to-midnight in UTC (DTSTART:20251225T000000Z), users east or west of UTC can see a one-day shift.
  • Time zone settings: If your calendar is set to a non-local time zone or a time zone override, some apps render all-day ranges differently.
  • DST changes: Rarely, daylight saving transitions can confuse misconfigured feeds that use floating times.

Fixes and tips:

  • Prefer feeds that use VALUE=DATE for all-day holidays.
  • Ensure your devices use the correct local time zone and have time-zone auto-update enabled.
  • In Apple Calendar, leave Time Zone Override off if you want all-day holidays to follow your current location’s date.
  • If you maintain your own feed, always set all-day holidays as DATE with exclusive end (DTEND is the day after).

Avoiding duplicates and messy calendars

Duplicate holidays clutter your view and trigger unnecessary notifications. Duplicates usually happen when you enable multiple holiday calendars that include overlapping events (e.g., your phone’s built-in holidays plus a Google subscription plus a third-party feed).

  • Use one canonical source: Enable only one holiday calendar per region or audience. Pick either the platform’s built-in holiday calendar or a third-party feed—not both.
  • Subscribe at the account level: Add the subscription to your primary account (Google, iCloud, or Microsoft 365) so it syncs to all devices, rather than subscribing locally on each device.
  • Hide built-ins you don’t need: In Google Calendar, uncheck or unsubscribe from "Holidays in [Country]" if you use a third-party feed. In Apple Calendar, uncheck the regional "Holidays" calendar or turn it off under Calendar settings.
  • Color-code and audit: Assign a distinct color to your holiday calendar. If you still see duplicates, temporarily hide calendars one by one to identify the overlap.

Note: Event UIDs don’t deduplicate across separate calendars. If two calendars contain the same holiday, you will still see it twice.

Set it up once—sync everywhere

Google Calendar (web and mobile)

  • Built-in: In Google Calendar on the web, click the plus (+) next to "Other calendars" > "Browse calendars of interest" > Holidays > choose your country/region.
  • Subscribe to a URL: Plus (+) > "From URL" > paste the https:// or webcal:// .ics link > Add. It will sync to your mobile apps signed into the same Google account.
  • Refresh: Google refreshes subscribed calendars automatically; allow several hours for changes to propagate.

Apple Calendar (iPhone, iPad, Mac, and iCloud)

  • Built-in: On iPhone/iPad, go to Settings > Calendar > Accounts > Subscribed Calendars or toggle the regional Holidays calendar in the Calendar app. On Mac, open Calendar > Preferences > General > Show Holidays (varies by version).
  • iCloud server-side subscription: Best for multi-device sync. On iCloud.com (Calendar), add a new calendar subscription via the .ics URL; all devices signed into your Apple ID will receive it.
  • Local subscription: You can add a subscribed calendar directly on iOS (Settings > Calendar > Accounts > Add Subscribed Calendar), but server-side via iCloud is more reliable and easier to manage.

Outlook and Microsoft 365

  • Outlook on the web (Microsoft 365/Outlook.com): Settings (gear) > View all Outlook settings > Calendar > Shared calendars > Publish calendar or "Import calendar" > "Subscribe from web"; paste the .ics URL. It syncs to Outlook apps signed into the same account.
  • Outlook desktop: Add as an Internet Calendar Subscription using the .ics URL. Server-side subscription via Outlook on the web is usually better for multi-device sync.

Keeping dates accurate and up-to-date

  • Pick a reputable provider: Built-in calendars or official/government sources tend to be stable. Verify the provider uses HTTPS and publishes updates for new legislation or observance rules.
  • Check update cadence: Many feeds update annually, but some revise midyear (e.g., sudden one-off public holidays). Browse the provider’s update notes or the ICS file’s headers (e.g., PRODID) if available.
  • Account-level subscriptions: Adding the feed to your Google/iCloud/Microsoft account ensures consistent refresh across devices.
  • Time zone hygiene: Enable automatic time zone settings on your devices. On iOS: Settings > General > Date & Time > Set Automatically. In Google Calendar: Settings > Time zone > enable prompts to update when traveling.
  • Force a check: Subscribed calendars refresh on their own schedule. If you need a faster update, toggle the calendar off/on, or remove and re-add the subscription. Ultimately, refresh timing is controlled server-side.

How to evaluate a holiday .ics feed before subscribing

  • Scope and clarity: Does the title and description make the covered country/region explicit?
  • Observed handling: Are observed dates labeled clearly and consistent with local labor rules?
  • All-day encoding: Inspect one event: all-day holidays should use VALUE=DATE. If you see "T000000Z", be cautious.
  • Frequency and reliability: Look for a history of updates and a trustworthy maintainer.
  • Security: Prefer HTTPS over HTTP, and avoid obscure sources that bundle non-holiday content.

Common pitfalls and quick fixes

Problem: Holidays appear twice

  • Fix: You likely enabled two overlapping calendars (e.g., built-in plus a third-party). Hide or unsubscribe from one.

Problem: A holiday shows on the wrong day

  • Fix: Ensure your device time zone is correct and try a feed that uses VALUE=DATE for all-day events. If traveling, verify time zone override settings.

Problem: The feed stopped updating

  • Fix: The source may be down or the URL changed. Open the .ics URL in a browser; if it fails, contact the provider or replace the feed. Re-add the subscription at the account level.

Problem: You only want observed days off

  • Fix: Choose a feed that contains only observed holidays, or in Google’s built-in holiday calendar, adjust the content under the calendar’s Settings if available for your country.

Advanced tips for power users

  • One account to rule them all: Subscribe once in your primary calendar account (Google/iCloud/Microsoft), not independently on every device. This avoids desynchronization and duplicate notifications.
  • Color and notifications: Set the holiday calendar to a distinct color and disable notifications if they’re noisy. You usually don’t need alerts for all-day holidays.
  • Multiple regions: If you collaborate internationally, keep separate holiday calendars per region and show/hide as needed rather than mixing them into one feed.
  • Corporate calendars: If your company observes a custom set of holidays, use the corporate .ics feed or subscribe to the internal calendar to avoid conflicts with national lists.
  • Testing feeds: Add to a test account first. Check for correct observed labeling, all-day rendering, and update behavior before deploying across a team.

Examples: picking the right feed

  • Remote team across US and UK: Subscribe to "US Federal Observed Holidays" and separate feeds for England & Wales and Scotland. Team members show/hide calendars as needed.
  • Canada with provincial closures: Use a Canada-wide feed for national awareness and a province-specific feed (e.g., Ontario) to plan office closures.
  • Australia with travel: Subscribe to your home state’s holidays and temporarily show other states’ feeds while traveling.
  • Religious communities: Choose a feed from your local authority to align with local observation, especially for lunar-based holidays.

Key takeaways

  • Use one authoritative holiday calendar per audience to avoid duplicates.
  • Choose region-specific feeds where public holidays vary by state or province.
  • Prefer feeds that encode all-day holidays as VALUE=DATE to prevent date shifts.
  • Subscribe at the account level for clean, universal sync across devices.
  • Verify observed vs. actual dates match your needs and local rules.

FAQ

Are .ics holiday calendars read-only?

Yes. Subscriptions are read-only; you can’t edit events in the feed. If you need custom notes, create a separate personal calendar for annotations and keep the holiday feed strictly for reference.

What’s the difference between webcal:// and https://?

webcal:// is a URL scheme that prompts your device to subscribe in a calendar app. It usually maps to the same underlying https:// resource. If https:// works, it’s fine to use; webcal:// just streamlines the subscription flow.

How often do subscribed calendars refresh?

It varies: Google, iCloud, and Microsoft 365 refresh server-side every few hours to daily. Local subscriptions on desktop or mobile may have configurable intervals. There’s no universal "refresh now" button; toggling visibility or re-adding the feed can nudge an update.

Why do I see holidays twice?

You likely enabled overlapping calendars (e.g., built-in "Holidays in [Country]" plus a third-party feed). Hide or unsubscribe from one source. Deduplication doesn’t occur across separate calendars even if events share the same UID.

Can I include only observed holidays?

Yes, if the provider offers it. Some feeds distinguish observed vs. actual dates; others include both. Google’s built-in holiday calendar has content controls for certain countries. Corporate calendars often include observed days only.

Why does an all-day holiday show on the wrong date when I travel?

If a feed encodes all-day events as midnight-to-midnight in UTC, time zone shifts can move the date. Choose feeds that use VALUE=DATE for all-day events and keep time zone override settings appropriate for your travel.

Is it safe to subscribe to any .ics link?

Prefer reputable, HTTPS-based sources. While .ics files are generally safe, unknown feeds can include inaccurate data or unnecessary events. Government, platform-built, or well-maintained community feeds are safest.