How do I set holiday hours, seasonal hours and closures?

Set seasonal hours on Hours, give a date its own hours (or close it) on Special dates, and block online bookings for a date or part of one.

Holidays, seasons and one-off closures are set in two places:

Settings → Venue → Hours — Seasonal hours: a different week for part of the year. Available on Plus plan and above.
Settings → Bookings → Special dates — one date, or a few days in a row, with its own Opening hours, or Closed all day. Special opening times are Available on Plus plan and above; closing a date works on every plan, including Free.
Settings → Bookings → Special dates again — a date's Online bookings closed, for a date or part of one when you're open but don't want online bookings. Works on every plan. They're listed on When people can book as Online booking blocked dates.

Owners, Admins and Managers can open both pages.

Which wins: "A special date's hours beat seasonal hours, which beat your weekly hours."

Seasonal hours — a recurring date range

Use this for something like summer hours that apply every year.

On Hours, in the Seasonal hours section, click Add season.
Give the season a name (it starts as "New Season").
Pick the Start date and End date. These are day-and-month only (no year), so the season repeats every year. A new season starts as 1 Jun – 31 Aug.
Set the from/to times or tick Closed for each day of the week, just like your standard hours. A season's days can carry their own break too.
Click Save changes.

While a season is active, its hours replace your standard operating hours. Delete a season with its bin button.

A special date's own hours — or closing it

Use this for a one-off date: Christmas Eve, a bank holiday, or a private event.

Open Settings → Bookings → Special dates and, in Add a special date, give it a Name and a Date (or tick Several days in a row). Click Add special date — or click Add beside it under Bank holidays.
On its Opening hours, choose Custom, then Open at these times and set the times (and a break, if you like) — or Closed all day.
Click Save changes.

A special date's hours replace that day's standard and seasonal hours, and they also set its online booking times — your usual online booking times for that weekday don't apply to it, unless you give the date online booking times of its own on the same page. A lunch-only Christmas Day is bookable online at lunchtime even if your usual online times for that weekday are evenings. The same date can change much more than its hours — see What's different about Christmas Day? (Special dates).

Online booking blocked dates — online only

Use this when you're open but don't want online bookings — a fully booked private party, for example.

On Settings → Bookings → Special dates, add the date (or open it with Change).
On its Online bookings closed, choose Custom, then All day — or Between times and set the times (a booking that would still be at the table then isn't offered online either).
Click Save changes. The date's name is its reason, for example "Private hire".

Blocked dates stop new online bookings for that date or time, and close your public waitlist then too. Your team can still create bookings and seat walk-ins — you're the one who can see the room — but the booking screens warn you first and name the blocked hours. To stop your team too, switch on Also stop your team on blocked dates on Special dates. When people can book lists the blocked dates coming up, under Days online bookings are closed, with a link to add or change them.

Blocked dates are per-date, so they're the wrong tool for something that happens every day. If you shut between lunch and dinner as a matter of course, set a daily break on the day's own hours instead — see How do I set my opening hours?.

If you use food and drinks-only bookings

Seasonal hours, special dates and blocked dates are shared by both booking types — they say when the venue is open. Only the online booking times can differ per type (Online booking times and Drinks-only online booking times, both on When people can book).

If you downgrade your plan

Your saved seasons and special dates are never deleted. Seasons and a special date's own opening times stop being applied — your standard weekly hours are used instead. The Hours page shows an amber notice for seasons ("Your seasonal hours aren't being applied on your current plan"), and on Special dates a date's opening hours say "Saved but not applied — your current plan doesn't include it. You can switch it off." A special date you marked as closed stays closed on every plan: online bookings, customers' own changes, the waitlist and your team's booking checks all keep it closed. Blocked dates work on every plan too — they always keep applying, and stay editable.

Related: How do I set my opening hours? · What's different about Christmas Day? (Special dates) · Why can't customers book a certain date? · When can customers book?