Google Calendar vs UK Bank Holidays

The Google Calendar API reads and writes events, calendars, free/busy data, and reminders for any Google account that's granted OAuth consent, with push-notification channels available so an app can watch a calendar for changes instead of polling it. It's the same REST API that powers Calendar add-ons and third-party scheduling tools like Calendly. Usage is free under Google's shared per-minute and per-project quotas (10,000 requests/minute/project as of the May 2026 quota update); there's no separate paid tier for the API itself, only future overage billing above a 1,000,000-requests-a-day threshold.

The UK government publishes England & Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland bank holidays as a single static JSON file at gov.uk, listing each holiday's date, title, and whether it's a “substitute day” moved from a weekend. It's official, authoritative, and requires nothing beyond an HTTP GET — no key, no rate limit, and it's licensed under the Open Government Licence for reuse including commercially.