Columbus Day Falls on Oct. 12, 2026: Ten Facts on the Federal Holiday and the Day Observed Beside It

Columbus Day is observed Monday, Oct. 12, 2026, the second Monday in October, under a proclamation President Donald Trump signed on Oct. 7. Here are 10 facts about the day, drawn from the federal record and from what is open and closed.

1. It is a federal holiday by statute. Congress, by a joint resolution of April 30, 1934, modified in 1968 and codified at 36 U.S.C. 107, requested that the president proclaim the second Monday of October as Columbus Day. Trump's Proclamation 11073 does so for 2026 and directs that the U.S. flag be displayed on public buildings.

2. The proclamation's language is explicit. It says Columbus "embarked westward across uncharted waters and discovered the New World—bringing with him the rich traditions of Western civilization and paving the way to the birth of the American Nation less than three centuries later." It calls on Americans to observe the day "with appropriate ceremonies and activities."

3. Columbus's first landfall was in 1492. He sailed under the Spanish crown and reached an island in the Bahamas on Oct. 12 of that year. He made three further voyages. He did not reach the mainland of what is now the United States.

4. The federal holiday does not close the stock market. The New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq are open on Columbus Day. U.S. bond markets are closed. Banks are closed. ATMs and online banking remain available.

5. Mail does not move. The U.S. Postal Service suspends regular delivery on the federal holiday. Packages already in the system may still move through private carriers, which generally operate.

6. Many cities mark a different observance the same day. Indigenous Peoples' Day is not a federal holiday. It is recognized by presidential proclamations in some years and by a growing list of states and localities, including California, Maine, New Mexico, Oregon, Vermont and others. South Dakota observes Native Americans' Day. Hawaii has long marked Discoverers' Day. In the city of Columbus, Ohio, Oct. 12, 2026, is recognized locally as Indigenous Peoples' Day, and the city suspends trash collection.

7. The two observances share a date by design. Indigenous Peoples' Day is placed on the second Monday in October in the places that mark it, the same day Columbus Day is proclaimed. In 2026 that Monday is Oct. 12. In 2027 it will be Oct. 11.

8. Italian-American groups have long treated the day as a heritage observance. The first recorded U.S. celebration was in New York in 1792, on the 300th anniversary of the landfall. Colorado became the first state to make it a holiday, in 1907. The federal recognition followed in 1934.

9. Schools and government offices vary. Federal offices are closed. State and local offices follow their own calendars. In places that observe only Columbus Day, public schools are often closed. In places that have shifted the local name, the closure may be listed under the other observance. Private employers set their own schedules.

10. The next federal Columbus Day is Oct. 11, 2027. The statute fixes the day as the second Monday in October. The proclamation is annual. What a given city calls the day, and whether its trash trucks run, is decided locally. The flag order and the bank closure are federal.