Employees in Saudi Arabia to enjoy a long weekend marking Kingdom’s Founding Day

Employees in Saudi Arabia will get to enjoy an extended weekend next week as the Kingdom marks its third Founding Day holiday on Thursday, February 22.

Saudi citizens and residents will therefore enjoy a three-day weekend, as the Kingdom’s weekend spans from Friday to Saturday.

In 2022, Saudi Arabia officially announced February 22 as a national holiday to celebrate the Saudi Founding Day as per a royal order issued by King Salman bin Abdulaziz.

The history of “Founding Day” goes back to three centuries ago when the first Saudi state was established in 1727 during the leadership of Imam Muhammad bin Saud.

The Kingdom celebrates the occasion with several events, military performances and air shows paying homage to the Kingdom.

Students will also get February 22 as a day off, which also marks the beginning of a semester break.

The third academic semester will resume on Sunday, March 3, and will end on Thursday, March 28, kicking off the Eid al-Fitr holiday for students.

Eid al-Fitr, which marks the end of Ramadan, is expected to fall on or around April 10.

Ramadan, the holiest month in Islam, is expected to start around March 11 meaning that students will begin their time off for Eid during the last few days of the holy month.

Last year, Saudi Arabia announced a four-day public holiday in observance of the Muslim holiday for the private and non-profit sectors.

Other holidays that Saudi citizens and residents can look forward too are the Eid al-Adha holiday around June 16 and the Saudi National Day on September 23.