In the English-speaking world a holiday can mean a period spent away from home or business in travel or recreation (e.g. "I'm going on holiday to Malta next week"), the North American equivalent is "vacation". Many Canadians will use the terms vacation and holiday interchangeably when referring to a trip away from home or time off work. In Australia the term can refer to a vacation or gazetted public holiday, but not to a day of commemoration such as Mothers' Day or Halloween. In all of the English-speaking world, a holiday can be a day set aside by a nation or culture (in some cases, multiple nations and cultures) typically for celebration but sometimes for some other kind of special culture-wide (or national) observance or activity. A holiday can also be a special day on which school and/or offices are closed, such as Labor Day.
When translated from/to other languages, the meanings of the word "holiday" may be conflated with these of "observance" and "celebration.
(Source 'Wikipedia.com')