Free Parking on Holidays 2026: Meter Rules in 12 Cities

Parking meters are free on Thanksgiving, Thursday, Nov. 26, 2026, and on Christmas Day, Friday, Dec. 25, 2026, in all 12 U.S. cities whose official parking pages we read on Nov. 9, 2026, but Veterans Day, Wednesday, Nov. 11, splits them: the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) says meters will be enforced that day. The table gives each city’s rule for four holidays, and the free parking holidays 2026 printable keeps it on one page.

New Year’s Day, Friday, Jan. 1, 2027, is a free-meter day on 11 of the 12 pages. Boston has not posted a 2027 entry yet. None of the four dates falls on a Sunday, so no city’s Sunday-shift rule comes into play.

Which cities have free parking meters on each 2026 holiday?

“Free” means the city’s page says meters are free or not enforced on that holiday. “Not on list” means the holiday is missing from the page’s list of meter holidays; it does not say meters are enforced. Where the page names no 2026 date, the row follows the holiday name.

City	Veterans Day (Wed., Nov. 11)	Thanksgiving (Thu., Nov. 26)	Christmas Day (Fri., Dec. 25)	New Year’s Day (Fri., Jan. 1, 2027)	Source
San Francisco	Enforced	Free	Free	Free	SFMTA
Washington, D.C.	Free	Free	Free	Free	District Department of Transportation (DDOT)
Philadelphia	Not on list	Free	Free	Free	Philadelphia Parking Authority (PPA)
New York City	Not on list	Free	Free	Free	New York City Department of Transportation (DOT)
Boston	Free	Free	Free	2027 entry not yet posted	City of Boston
Denver	Free	Free	Free	Free	City and County of Denver
Seattle	Free	Free	Free	Free	Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT)
Austin	Not on list	Free	Free	Free	Austin Transportation and Public Works
Baltimore	Not on list	Free	Free	Free	City of Baltimore
Portland	Free	Free	Free	Free	Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT)
San Diego	Free	Free	Free	Free	City of San Diego
Minneapolis	Free	Free	Free	Free	City of Minneapolis

The count by holiday: Thanksgiving and Christmas Day are free in 12 of 12 cities, New Year’s Day in 11 of 12, and Veterans Day in 7 of 12.

Do parking meters run on Veterans Day, Nov. 11, 2026?

It depends on the city. Seven pages list the day as a meter holiday: Boston, Washington, Denver, Seattle, Portland, San Diego and Minneapolis. Boston’s holidays page says “Parking meters are free with no time limit” for Veterans Day 2026, and Denver lists “Veteran’s Day - November 11” among the City holidays when meter parking is free.

San Francisco is the one that says the opposite. The SFMTA schedule says “Parking meters… will be enforced on Veterans Day (Wednesday, November 11, 2026).”

Philadelphia, New York City, Austin and Baltimore do not list Veterans Day among their meter holidays. That is silence, not a rule that meters run, so check the meter or the city’s page. Our alternate side parking holidays story covers New York’s street cleaning suspensions, which are a separate rule from meters.

Is parking free on Thanksgiving and Christmas Day 2026?

Yes, on all 12 pages. Philadelphia’s page says “No meters or residential parking time limits are enforced on the holidays listed below,” and lists Thanksgiving, Christmas Day and New Year’s Day. New York’s Department of Transportation says “Metered regulations are not in effect on Sundays nor major legal holidays,” and names Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day among them. Baltimore says “You do not have to pay the parking meters on these holidays” and lists the same two.

Seattle’s page lists the “4th Thursday of the month” for November and “December 25” for December, and adds that if a listed date falls on a Sunday, the Monday that follows is a free parking day. Neither date is a Sunday in 2026. For the date itself, see when is Thanksgiving; the November 2026 printable calendar and the December 2026 printable calendar show the days in a month grid.

The grocery side of the holiday is in our Thanksgiving 2026 store guide.

Is parking free the day after Thanksgiving and on New Year’s Day 2027?

The day after Thanksgiving, Friday, Nov. 27, splits two cities. Minneapolis lists the “Day after Thanksgiving” among its City holidays with free metered spaces, and its City holidays page shows Friday, Nov. 27, 2026. San Francisco’s SFMTA schedule marks the day after Thanksgiving as enforced. We did not confirm Nov. 27 for the other cities, so check the city’s page before you leave a car at a meter.

New Year’s Day, Jan. 1, 2027, is free in 11 cities’ rules: San Francisco’s schedule says “Not Enforced” for that date, and the other pages list New Year’s Day among their holidays. Boston’s holidays page, last updated July 3, 2026, has no 2027 entry yet. Its 2026 New Year’s Day entry said meters were free, which is last year’s entry and not a 2027 rule.

What does a free-meter holiday not cover?

Meters only, in most cases. San Diego’s page says enforcement holidays are limited to “parking meters, yellow commercial zones, short-term green zones and one-to-two-hour time parking zones,” and that “All other parking regulations remain enforced.” Tow-away zones and other posted rules are not part of the pages we read, so follow the signs.

Some meters sit outside the city rule:

• Portland: parking is free at meters “except at city parks” on its ten calendar holidays.
• Austin: the city’s list covers city meters; the University of Texas campus and the Capitol Complex are not city-regulated.
• Minneapolis: park, University of Minnesota and hospital meters may differ from the city’s holiday rule.
• Washington, D.C.: DDOT says the District “does not require that meter fees be paid on District holidays”; its page shows no 2026 dates, only the holiday names.

Why are Chicago and Los Angeles missing?

Chicago’s official meter frequently asked questions document could not be read on Nov. 9, 2026, and the Los Angeles transportation pages were unreachable, so we state no rule for either city. Look at the posted sign on the meter or the pay box before you rely on a free day. For snow and winter rules that start later in the season, see the winter parking bans by city.

Rules change, so confirm on your city’s page in the Source column before you park.