Adding holidays to Samsung Calendar in three steps
Samsung Calendar can show holidays automatically once you turn on the holiday calendar in your settings. Open Samsung Calendar, tap the menu icon (three horizontal lines) in the bottom right, select Settings, then tap Calendars. You will see a list of calendar types — find Holidays and toggle it on. The app will then display holidays for your country on the calendar view.
If you do not see a Holidays option in your calendar list, your device may not have that feature enabled by default. In that case, you can add individual holidays manually by creating events on specific dates, or you can import a holiday calendar file if your Samsung device supports calendar imports.
The exact steps vary slightly depending on your Samsung device model and the version of Samsung Calendar installed, but the Settings menu is the starting point on all recent models.
Key Takeaways
- Samsung Calendar displays holidays automatically once you toggle the Holidays calendar on in Settings > Calendars.
- Holidays appear for the country set in your device language and region settings.
- If the Holidays option is not visible, you can manually create holiday events or check whether your device supports calendar imports.
- Holiday calendars update with your device software, so you do not need to manually refresh them each year.
Finding the Holidays calendar in Settings
Open Samsung Calendar by tapping its icon on your home screen or in your app drawer. Once the calendar is open, look for the menu icon — this is usually three horizontal lines stacked on top of each other, located in the bottom right corner of the screen. Tap it to open the menu.
From the menu, select Settings. This will open a settings page with several options. Look for Calendars and tap it. You will now see a list of calendar types that can be displayed on your calendar view. This list typically includes options like Local, Google, Exchange, and Holidays.
Find Holidays in the list and tap the toggle switch next to it to turn it on. Once enabled, holidays for your country will begin appearing on your calendar when ready. You do not need to restart the app or refresh manually.
Changing which country's holidays appear
Samsung Calendar shows holidays based on the country set in your device's language and region settings, not within the Calendar app itself. If you are seeing holidays from the wrong country, you will need to change your device region setting.
Go to your device's main Settings app (not Samsung Calendar settings). Scroll down and tap General management, then Language and input or Language and region — the exact name varies by model. Select Language or Region and choose the country whose holidays you want to see. Return to Samsung Calendar and the holiday list will update within a few moments.
If you live in a region with multiple holiday observances or want to see holidays from more than one country, you may need to choose the region that includes the holidays most relevant to you, since Samsung Calendar typically displays one country's holidays at a time.
Adding holidays manually if the Holidays calendar is not available
Some older Samsung devices or regional versions of Samsung Calendar may not include a built-in Holidays calendar option. If you do not see Holidays in your Calendars list after checking Settings, you can add individual holidays as regular calendar events.
Open Samsung Calendar and tap the date where you want to add a holiday. Tap the + button or Create event option. Enter the holiday name in the title field, set the date, and optionally mark it as an all-day event by toggling the All day switch. You can also set a reminder so you receive a notification on that day. Tap Save when finished.
Repeat this process for each holiday you want to add. While this method takes more time than enabling a Holidays calendar, it gives you full control over which holidays appear and allows you to add custom observances specific to your family or community.
Importing a holiday calendar file
If your Samsung device supports calendar imports, you can add a holiday calendar by importing a calendar file in .ics format. These files contain holiday data for specific countries and can be downloaded from various calendar websites or generated by other calendar applications.
To import a calendar file, open Samsung Calendar and go to Settings > Calendars. Look for an Import or Add calendar option — not all Samsung devices include this feature. If available, tap it and select the .ics file from your device storage. The calendar will be added to your calendar list and holidays will appear on your calendar view.
This method works best if you have already downloaded a holiday calendar file to your device. If you are unsure whether your device supports imports, check your device manual or contact Samsung support for your specific model.
Troubleshooting holidays that do not appear
If you have turned on the Holidays calendar but holidays are not showing up, first check that you are viewing the calendar in a view that displays events. Some Samsung Calendar views (like month view) may hide events if your display settings are set to show only certain calendar types. Tap the menu icon and verify that Holidays is checked in the calendar list.
Second, confirm that your device region is set correctly. Open your device Settings, go to General management > Language and region, and verify that the country shown matches the holidays you expect to see. If it is set to a different country, change it and return to Samsung Calendar.
If holidays still do not appear after these steps, try closing Samsung Calendar completely and reopening it. On some devices, the calendar needs to refresh after a settings change. If the problem persists, you may be using a device model or regional version that does not include the Holidays feature — in that case, manually adding holidays as events is your best option.
Removing or hiding holidays from your calendar
If you have enabled the Holidays calendar but prefer not to see holidays displayed, you can turn it off at any time. Open Samsung Calendar, tap the menu icon, select Settings > Calendars, find Holidays, and toggle it off. Holidays will when ready disappear from your calendar view.
If you have manually added individual holiday events and want to remove them, open each event, tap the delete or trash icon, and confirm the deletion. This removes only the specific event you selected, not the entire Holidays calendar.
Frequently Asked Questions
Will holidays update automatically each year?
Yes, if you are using the built-in Holidays calendar feature, holidays update automatically when your device receives software updates. You do not need to manually refresh or re-enable the calendar each year. Manually added events will not update automatically — you would need to edit or recreate them for future years.
Can I add holidays from multiple countries at once?
Samsung Calendar typically displays holidays from one country at a time, based on your device region setting. If you need holidays from multiple countries, you can manually create events for the additional holidays you want to track, or check whether your device supports importing multiple calendar files.
What if I see holidays I do not recognize or want?
The Holidays calendar shows all observed holidays for your selected country, which may include religious, cultural, or national holidays you do not personally observe. You can turn off the entire Holidays calendar and manually add only the holidays that matter to you, or you can leave it on and straightforward ignore the ones you do not need.
Do holidays sync across my Samsung devices?
If your Samsung devices are linked to the same Samsung account, the Holidays calendar setting will sync across them. However, manually added holiday events will only sync if they are saved to a synced calendar type, such as your Google Calendar or Samsung account calendar, not to a local calendar.
Can I change the color of holidays on my calendar?
The Holidays calendar color is usually set by Samsung and cannot be customized in most versions of Samsung Calendar. If you want to change how holidays appear, you can turn off the Holidays calendar and manually create holiday events in a different calendar that allows custom colors.