Christmas, Easter and church feasts in Syria

Christmas and Easter are both public holidays in Syria, and the churches hold their services every year. What changes from one year to the next is everything outside the door: processions, scout bands, street lights, a tree in the square. In 2026 the Easter celebrations were kept inside the churches, and in Saidnaya the street programme for the August and September feasts was called off. This page sets out which feast falls when, what you can expect to see if you are in the country that week, and where to find out how that particular year is going.

Which feast falls on which day

Christmas is on 25 December and is a public holiday. The Armenian Apostolic community keeps Christmas on 6 January; the Armenians of Qamishli held their service on that day again in January 2026. 6 January is not on the list of public holidays, so offices and banks are open.

Easter follows two reckonings, a Western one and an Eastern one. Broadly, the Orthodox churches keep the Eastern date and the Catholic and Protestant churches the Western one, but there are exceptions. Check with the church you plan to attend. In most years the two dates fall a week apart; in 2027 there are five weeks between them, 28 March and 2 May. The year-by-year table is on the public holidays page.

The Sunday before Easter is Palm Sunday, called Shaaniniyeh in Syria. In an ordinary year it brings out the biggest street procession of the season. 14 September is the Feast of the Cross. Saidnaya has three feasts in a row between late summer and September: Our Lady, the Cross and Saint Sophia.

What you see if you are there that week

In Christmas week the Christian quarters put up trees, lights and window displays. In Damascus the most visible stretch is around Bab Touma and Bab Sharqi, two of the Old City gates; the cover photo comes from a Christmas procession in Bab Touma in 2018.

In Aleppo a Christmas village opened in December 2025 at the Terra Santa Monastery in the al-Furqan district. The tree was lit on the evening of 15 December, with fireworks. The same month brought reports of celebrations and services from Salamiyah and Qamishli.

In an ordinary year Easter week opens with the Palm Sunday procession and continues through the Good Friday and Easter night services. On 29 March 2026 Palm Sunday was celebrated in Qamishli; on the same day churches in Damascus, Tartus, Latakia and Hama had cancelled their outdoor programmes.

Can I attend a service?

Yes. Services are open to the congregation. Sit towards the back, do not photograph or film while the liturgy is under way, and if you are not taking communion, stay out of the line. The Christmas service is held on the night of 24 December or the morning of 25 December; the time varies by church and is posted at the door. The Easter night service starts close to midnight and runs long. Dress and photography are covered on the visiting places of worship page.

Why there were no street celebrations in 2026

In March 2026, after attacks in Suqaylabiyah in the Hama countryside, churches in Damascus, Tartus, Latakia and Hama cancelled their Palm Sunday street programmes and kept the feast to prayers inside. The Melkite Greek Catholic Patriarchate announced that, in agreement with the other churches, Easter that year would consist only of services inside the churches.

In August 2026 the parish committees of three communities in Saidnaya made an announcement: the Greek Orthodox, the Syriac Orthodox and the Melkite Greek Catholics. There would be no street celebrations for the feasts of Our Lady, the Cross and Saint Sophia, only prayers in church.

For a visitor the result was the same in both cases. The processions described in older guides did not happen that year. The services went ahead.

How to plan the trip

• Fix the date before you buy a ticket. Easter can land in two different weeks.
• If you are coming for a procession, wait for that year’s church announcement. In 2026 the Palm Sunday decision came out on the day itself.
• Museums and government offices are closed on 25 December; move the programme around it.
• Do not put a monastery visit on the feast day. The church is full of worshippers, and the next day is easier for seeing the building. Where the monasteries are: monasteries and churches.

Confirm before you set out. The dates of the feasts are fixed, but the shape of the celebrations is decided again every year.