Victory and Peace Day in Armenia

A fixed date and a non-working holiday

Armenia’s Law on Holidays and Commemorative Days names Victory and Peace Day and sets it on May 9 as a non-working day. The Labour Code generally prohibits requiring employees to work on non-working holidays, with exceptions for work that cannot stop for technical reasons or is needed to provide services to the public. Pregnant employees and employees caring for a child under one may work on such a day only with their consent.[1][3]

The law does not provide a routine substitute day when May 9 falls on a weekend. It does allow the Government to designate non-working days in connection with holidays or exceptional events, so any additional day off depends on a separate government decision.[1]

What the day means in Armenia

Armenian official messages describe May 9 as the victory of the Soviet Union and its Western allies in World War II, celebrated in Armenia as Victory and Peace Day. They emphasize Armenians’ participation in Soviet and allied forces and resistance groups, the losses they suffered, and the remembrance of those killed.[2]

The word “peace” is part of the country’s official framing of the observance. The Prime Minister’s message connects remembrance of the war with a duty to preserve peace and to remember the human cost of fascism.[2]

Commemoration in Yerevan

Official observances have included tributes at Yerevan’s Victory Park. In a documented ceremony, the President and senior officials visited the park, laid a wreath at the Unknown Soldier memorial, and placed flowers at the eternal flame for the fallen.[4]

Government records also describe a May 9 ceremony at the park attended by officials and clergy, with a wreath-laying and a military parade. That account linked the day’s remembrance of World War II with the separate Armenian commemoration of Shushi’s 1992 liberation; it does not establish that the same programme happens every year or throughout the country.[5]

What visitors should expect

Because May 9 is legally non-working, government offices close and many workplaces may close. The Labour Code allows schedules to vary in services that need to continue for the public, naming public transport, theatres, museums and public catering among examples. Their hours, along with those of banks and shops, should therefore be checked directly; the law does not establish a single nationwide opening schedule for them.[1][3]