Bangladesh garment production calendar: peak season, Eid and holidays

Bangladesh’s garment calendar is shaped by two Eid holidays, when most factories close for up to ten days and exporters rush to ship beforehand, and by the monsoon from June to mid-October. In 2026 Eid ul-Fitr fell on 21 March and Eid ul-Azha on 28 May. In 2027 they are expected around 9 to 11 March and 16 to 18 May, subject to the moon. Plan so that no approval, fabric delivery or shipment depends on the two weeks around either Eid.

The two Eids decide the year

Eid ul-Fitr, at the end of Ramadan, and Eid ul-Azha, about ten weeks later, are the only times in the year when almost the whole industry stops at once. Many workers travel home to their villages, and factories close for longer than the official public holiday. Because both festivals follow the Islamic lunar calendar, they move about 11 days earlier each year, so a production plan copied from last year will be wrong.

The government’s official holidays are for government offices; each factory sets its own Eid closure under the labour law, following notices from BGMEA and BKMEA. For Eid ul-Fitr 2026, The Financial Express reported that garment factories declared up to 10 days of holiday, with most units closed from 18 to 27 March, against a government holiday of seven days, from 17 to 23 March. For Eid ul-Azha 2026 the government declared a seven-day holiday from 25 to 31 May, and cancelled the Saturday weekly holiday on 23 May so offices could open beforehand.

Bangladesh public holidays 2026

The government announced the 2026 list on 10 November 2025: 28 holiday days in total, 14 general holidays and 14 by executive order, with 11 falling on weekends. The dates below come from that list as reported by The Daily Star, with the later extensions of both Eid holidays and the 7 November holiday that the cabinet reinstated on 16 April 2026.

The official circular notes that holidays that depend on the sighting of the moon may change. A single-day holiday costs little, but two or three in one week, or one next to an Eid, can push a tight shipment by a week.

Expected dates for 2027

The government normally publishes the next year’s list late in the year; the 2026 list came out in November 2025. Until the 2027 list is issued, the dates below are expected, taken from published holiday calendars. The lunar dates can move by a day or two depending on the moon sighting in Bangladesh.

The practical reading for 2027: Eid ul-Fitr arrives in early March, about ten days earlier than in 2026, so spring deliveries that need to leave Bangladesh in March must be packed by the end of February. Eid ul-Azha follows in mid-May. That puts both Eid closures inside the ten weeks when many brands are shipping spring and early summer goods.

What happens at the port before and after Eid

The closure is not only at the factory. Exporters try to get finished goods out before the holiday, and everyone does it in the same week. Before Eid ul-Fitr 2025, The Business Standard reported that export containers held at Chattogram’s private inland container depots rose from 7,759 TEU on 15 March to 14,516 TEU on 29 March, against a normal capacity of about 10,000 TEU, with thousands of vehicles queuing at depot yards. A former BGMEA vice president explained that factories close for Eid and take a few days to restart, so shipments have to reach the depots about a week in advance.

After Eid ul-Azha 2025, when the government holiday ran for ten days, the same paper reported that about 30% of export containers missed their scheduled vessels, because depots were short of workers and container handling fell sharply during the closure. Vessels also waited longer at the port. The lesson is that goods which are ready the day before Eid are not safe; goods that are at the depot a week before Eid usually are. Our Chattogram page explains how the port and depots work, and logistics and shipping covers sea and air options from Chattogram and Dhaka.

The monsoon, June to mid-October

The monsoon typically enters Bangladesh in June and withdraws by mid-October, according to meteorologists quoted by The Business Standard. It no longer arrives as steady rain. The Daily Star reported in July 2026 that the Bangladesh Meteorological Department sees a delayed, weaker onset and more short, intense bursts of rainfall; June 2026 had about 30% less rain than normal, while March and April had far more.

For garment orders the monsoon is a logistics risk, not a factory closure. Heavy downpours can flood roads and slow trucks between the factory belts around Dhaka and the port at Chattogram. A careful buyer leaves a few days of slack between ex-factory and vessel cut-off for any shipment that leaves between June and October, and does not book the last possible vessel.

A month-by-month planning view

There is no published statistic on factory capacity by month, so be wary of anyone who quotes one. What can be planned is where the fixed risks fall. Using the 2026 dates and the expected 2027 dates:

• January and February: clear months with few holidays. Good for sampling, fabric booking and bulk start for goods that must ship before an early-March Eid in 2027.
• March to May: Ramadan, Eid ul-Fitr and Eid ul-Azha all fall here in 2026 and 2027. Expect two factory closures of up to ten days each, pre-Eid port congestion and a slow restart after each. Avoid approvals and ship dates in the week either side of each Eid.
• June to mid-October: monsoon. Factories work normally, but allow slack for road transport to the port.
• October: Durga Puja takes two days in 2026 (20 and 21 October) and about 9 October in 2027.
• November and December: a stable production period, but watch for wage changes. The annual wage increment takes effect in December, and a review of the garment minimum wage is due by the end of 2026, so costs for orders produced from December may change.

A worked example: goods needed in Europe in spring 2027

Suppose a brand needs a spring range in its European warehouse at the start of April 2027. Work backwards, using your forwarder’s quoted transit time rather than a guess. If the forwarder quotes a door-to-door sea time of T weeks, the goods must leave Chattogram T weeks before the warehouse date. For many routes that pushes the vessel date into late February or early March 2027, which is exactly when the expected Eid ul-Fitr closure begins, around 9 March.

That leaves two honest options. Either the goods are finished, inspected and at the depot by about the end of February, a week ahead of the expected Eid as the pre-Eid rush requires, or the launch date moves, or part of the order goes by air after Eid. What does not work is planning to finish on 8 March and hoping the port is quiet. The same arithmetic applies to anything shipping in mid-May 2027 around Eid ul-Azha. This is illustrative arithmetic, not a quoted lead time; real timings depend on the product, the fabric and the factory.

How to plan an order around Eid

1. Find the Eid dates first. Put the expected Eid dates on your critical path before you set a launch date, and update them when the government publishes the official list.
2. Finish approvals early. Fit and pre-production sample approvals should be signed off at least three weeks before Eid, because factory teams who travel home cannot rework samples.
3. Book fabric so it lands before the closure. Imported fabric that arrives during Eid may sit at the port or depot until the holiday ends.
4. Plan the final inspection a week before Eid, not the day before. A failed final inspection needs working days to fix.
5. Ask the factory for its own closure dates. Each factory sets them, and they differ.
6. Expect a slow first week back. Factories take a few days to resume full operation after Eid, and the port and depots need time to clear the backlog.

Sampling rounds are usually where schedules slip; our sampling and product development page explains the stages that need your sign-off. For the bigger picture of how an order moves from enquiry to shipment, see how we work.

What to do next

If you have a launch date in 2027, count backwards from it and mark both Eids before you ask for quotations. Holidays are not the only thing that moves a date this year: our guide to Bangladesh sourcing risks in 2026 covers gas shortages, the port and visas. Then send us your product, quantity and target ship date; we reply within one working day, and we will tell you plainly if the date collides with an Eid closure.