What happens when July 4th is on a Wednesday?

Is your long weekend in jeopardy this year? We break down what happens when July 4th is on a Wednesday so you can prep for the midweek July 4th.

By Linnea Zielinski, Metro

Let’s all be honest with each other: We’re all just counting down the days until the next long weekend. The summer, in all its relaxing glory, general packs three of those into the always-too-short season: Memorial Day, July 4th and Labor Day. But what happens when July 4th is on a Wednesday?

We know what your biggest concern is: Does this threaten your long weekend? Here’s everything you need to know about what happens when July 4th is on a Wednesday — which thankfully only happens every 5 years. (Next year’s Independence Day will fall on a Thursday — we know, equally annoying — and 2020’s celebration will happen on a Saturday.)

What happens when July 4th is on a Wednesday?

We’ll get the bad news over with first before moving on to the silver lining: No, you’re not automatically going to get a long weekend with a midweek July 4th on the calendar. Yes, you’ll get the actual day, Wednesday, July 4th, off of work — but if you want a long weekend like you enjoy on other years, you’re going to have to burn through some vacation days to get it.

The actual holiday doesn’t change. You’ll get Wednesday off of work and parades as well as fireworks displays will happen that day. The cookouts with your friends are probably the biggest thing in question other than your travel plans. If you don’t take any days off, you’ll go to work Monday and Tuesday, celebrate Independence Day Wednesday and wrap up the week at work on Thursday and Friday.

If you want a long weekend, it’s up to you which one you take off — or whether you decide you deserve a longer break and take the entire week off. If you focus your days on one of the weekends, just make sure you time it with the biggest cookouts for the typical July 4th long weekend and its traditions. (Don't feel like traveling? You can always stay inside, where there's AC, and binge-watch these patriotic movies for July 4th.)

When is the next time we’ll get an automatic 3-day weekend?

Don’t be fooled by that 2020 date. If July 4th falls on a Saturday, you’re not automatically getting the Friday before off; you’ll have to use vacation days for that, too. The next time you’ll get an automatic 3-day weekend from your employer for Independence Day is 2022, when July 4th is on a Monday. After that, it’s a long wait until 2025, when the holiday happens on a Friday.