October 2026 at a Glance
October combines a heavy work month with a highly social month-end. The fourth quarter is underway, budgets for the following year are drafted, and Halloween arrives with costumes, parties and school events that need preparing weeks in advance.
| Month | October 2026 — month 10 of 12 |
|---|
| Number of days | 31 days |
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| First day | Thursday, October 1, 2026 |
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| Last day | Saturday, October 31, 2026 |
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| Weekend days | 9 Saturdays and Sundays |
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| Calendar weeks | Spans 5 rows (ISO weeks 40–44) |
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| Season | Autumn in the Northern Hemisphere |
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| Birthstone | Opal & Tourmaline |
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| Birth flower | Marigold & Cosmos |
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| Zodiac signs | Libra (until Oct 22) & Scorpio (from Oct 23) |
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Holidays and Observances in October 2026
October 2026 contains 1 federal holiday: Columbus Day on Monday, October 12.
Halloween on the 31st closes the month, Breast Cancer Awareness Month runs throughout, and the second Monday is observed as Indigenous Peoples' Day in a growing number of states. October is also when most organisations start booking the year-end calendar in earnest.
| Date | Day | Holiday | Type |
|---|
| October 12, 2026 | Monday | Columbus Day | Federal holiday |
| October 31, 2026 | Saturday | Halloween | Observance |
See every date for the year on our 2026 holidays page, or browse the full
2026 calendar.
Planning Tips for October 2026
Prepare Halloween in early October
Costumes, class parties and neighbourhood events all need decisions made well before the 31st. A note in the first week converts a stressful final weekend into a simple one.
Draft next year's budget while the year is still measurable
October gives you nine months of actual figures and three months of visibility. It is the most accurate point in the year to plan the next one.
Log the clock-change warning
Daylight Saving Time ends in early November, so late October is when to note the change and adjust any early-morning or international scheduling.
How Many Working Days Are in October 2026?
October 2026 contains 21 working days once weekends and federal holidays are
removed from its 31 calendar days. The 1 federal holiday that falls on a weekday is: Columbus Day. These figures assume a standard Monday-to-Friday schedule;
shift and weekend workers will count differently.
31Total days
22Weekdays
9Weekend days
21Working days
| Calendar days | 31 |
|---|
| Weekdays (Mon–Fri) | 22 |
|---|
| Weekend days | 9 |
|---|
| Federal holidays on a weekday | 1 |
|---|
| Working days | 21 |
|---|
Payroll periods, project estimates and billable-hour targets all depend on this number, and it varies by
several days from month to month — which is why estimating "about 22 days" every month quietly
distorts a quarter's planning.
Week Numbers in October 2026
October 2026 spans ISO week 40 through week 44. Under the ISO 8601 standard used across Europe and by
most project-management and payroll software, weeks run Monday to Sunday and week 1 is the week containing the
first Thursday of the year.
| Week number | Starts (Monday) | Ends (Sunday) |
|---|
| Week 40 | September 28 | October 4 |
| Week 41 | October 5 | October 11 |
| Week 42 | October 12 | October 18 |
| Week 43 | October 19 | October 25 |
| Week 44 | October 26 | November 1 |
If your workplace refers to "week 40" or "W44", these are the dates it means.
Our guide to how many weeks are in a year explains why some years
carry 53 numbered weeks and how the ISO rule decides where week 1 begins.
Note that American calendars usually start the week on Sunday, so a US week-of-the-year count can differ by one
from the ISO numbering above — you can switch the grid between Sunday and Monday starts using the
Week starts menu above.
How to Print Your October 2026 Calendar
1
Choose your month
Use the arrows or the month and year menus to open any month between 2024 and 2030. The grid updates instantly.
2
Add your plans
Click straight into any date box and start typing. Appointments, shifts, birthdays and reminders are saved
automatically in your browser, so nothing is lost if you close the page.
3
Print or download
Hit Print for a clean paper copy, PDF to save a document, or
Image for a PNG you can share. All three are free and never watermarked.
For the clearest printed result, choose landscape orientation and
enable background graphics in your printer settings so the header row and holiday highlights appear. If you
prefer a calendar you fill in by hand, our blank calendar templates give you the
same layout without any dates.
Other Calendars You Might Need
You can also open the evergreen October calendar hub for
templates covering every year, or browse all 2026 months in one place.