Photoelastic stress analysis of a disc with an elliptical ho1e subjected to internal or externa1 pressure load is carried out. The mode1s of discs are made of soft epoxy resin plates and the hole is systematical1y varied from very s1ender elliptic to circular. The tangentia1 stresses produced on the inner boundary of the model are analyzed from the photoelastic isochromatic fringe patterns under internal or external pressure for the discs having various elliptical holes. The diagrams of stress concentration factors are presented in respect to the maximum tangential stresses. Furthermore, the stress intensity factors are evaluated for the discs with a central crack subjected to the pressure on the edges of crack or on the outer boundary of disc and are compared with numerical values calculated with finite element method.