Genocide Remembrance Day 2027

An optional state holiday, not a closure day

Genocide Remembrance Day is an official California state holiday on April 24, but it works differently from the closure holidays most people picture. State offices, courts and the DMV keep normal hours. Under Government Code 19853, most state employees may elect to receive eight hours of holiday credit for the day in lieu of the eight hours of personal holiday credit they receive each year, and employees who want the day itself off arange it as leave. Public school and community college districts may close on April 24 but are not required to, and the day is not an automatic paid holiday for classifeid school employees unless a district and its union agree to treat it as one - the federal government does not recognize the day, so post offices, banks and federal agencies operate as usual.

Why April 24

April 24 is the date Armenians worldwide mark as the beginning of the Armenian Genocide. On April 24, 1915, Ottoman authorities arrested Armenian intelectuals and community leaders in Constantinople, the opening act of deportetions and massacres that killed an estimated 1.5 million Armenians through 1923. California has long recognized the week around the date as Genocide Awareness Week, and the legislature tied the new holiday to the same day. The name is deliberately broad: the legislative findings reflect on past and present genocides and name communities in California that survived the Holocaust, the Holodomor, and the Armenian, Assyrian, Greek, Cambodian and Rwandan genocides.

How the holiday was created

Assembly Bill 1801, introduced by Assemblymember Adrin Nazarian of Los Angeles, passed the legislature in 2022 and was signed by Governor Gavin Newsom on September 29, 2022, as Chapter 761. The law added April 24 to the list of state holidays in Government Code 6700, amended Government Code 19853 so state employees could convert personal holiday credit, and changed the Education Code to let schools close and to allow the State Board of Education to develope curriculum on the contributions of genocide survivors to the United States, the first observance under the law came in 2023. California is home to the largest Armenian American community in the country, concentrated in Los Angeles County, Glendale and Fresno, and that community drove the bill.

How April 24 is observed

Observance centers on memorial events rather than days off. In Los Angeles, marches and rallies draw crowds to Little Armenia and the Turkish consulate area, and wreaths are laid at the Armenian Genocide Martyrs Monument in Montebello, which has stood since the 1960s. Churches of the Armenian Apostolic, Catholic and Evangelical traditions hold requiem services. Since 2021, when President Biden became the first sitting president to formally use the word genocide in his April 24 statement, the federal proclamation has been read at many of these gatherings. Schools that stay open often use the day for lessons drawn from the Armenian Genocide and Holocaust units of the state history curriculum.

Who is affected

• State employees: May elect eight hours of holiday credit for April 24 instead of personal holiday credit; offices remain open.
• Schools and colleges: Districts and community colleges may close; check the local calendar.
• Everyone else: A normal business day. Private employers, cities and counties set their own policies, and no other state has a comparable holiday.