Are shops open on 28 October in the Czech Republic?
Short answer: big shops are closed all day, small ones can open. Wednesday 28 October 2026 is Independent Czechoslovak State Day, a public holiday. Under Czech law, shops with a sales floor larger than 200 m² may not sell anything that day, which shuts hypermarkets, most supermarkets and big stores. The rule is in Act No. 223/2016 Coll. on retail opening hours (full text in Czech).
What is open and what is closed
| Open | Closed |
|---|---|
| Shops with a sales floor of up to 200 m² | Shops with a sales floor over 200 m²: hypermarkets, most supermarkets, large stores |
| Petrol stations | Pawnshops and second-hand shops, whatever their size |
| Pharmacies | Waste collection and buy-back points, whatever their size |
| Shops at airports, railway stations and bus stations | |
| Shops in hospitals and other health facilities |
Shopping centres can choose. The European Consumer Centre Czech Republic says a mall may stay open with only its smaller shops trading and the large ones closed, or close completely (ECC). Check your supermarket chain's website or app for its own holiday hours: small convenience-format branches can open if they are under the size limit.
Fines
The Czech Trade Inspection Authority (ČOI) enforces the rule. A shop that opens when it should be closed can be fined up to CZK 1,000,000, and up to CZK 5,000,000 for repeat offences.
The other days big shops close
The same law closes large shops on seven public holidays and for half of Christmas Eve:
- 1 January
- Easter Monday
- 8 May (Victory Day)
- 28 September (Czech Statehood Day)
- 28 October (Independent Czechoslovak State Day)
- 24 December from 12:00 to midnight
- 25 and 26 December
On public holidays that are not on this list, such as 1 May and 17 November, large shops may open.
Schools: a long autumn weekend
The Ministry of Education has set the autumn school holidays for Thursday 29 and Friday 30 October 2026 (MŠMT). With the holiday on Wednesday, pupils are off from Wednesday 28 October to Sunday 1 November.
What the day marks
28 October is the anniversary of the founding of Czechoslovakia in 1918, in the last weeks of the First World War. The Czech Republic still celebrates it as a state holiday. It is a day of ceremonies at memorials across the country, like the one in Brno in the photo above.
