Public holidays in Puerto Rico
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Puerto Rico celebrates all the official holidays of the United States, and a large number of other which are official holidays established by the Commonwealth government. These Commonwealth holidays are not widely known by people living in the mainland United States. Plus each Puerto Rican town celebrates fiestas patronales which are Patron Saint Festivals, and many towns have additional festivals which honor cultural icons like Bomba y plena, danza, salsa, hamacas (hammocks), and popular crops such as plantains and coffee. This is a country that puts a premium on celebration.
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[edit] Public holidays
| Date | English name | Local name (in Spanish) | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|
| January 1 | New Year's Day | Día de Año Nuevo | Celebrated with dancing, parties, and fireworks. Celebratory gunfire during the holiday leads to one or two deaths and about 20 injuries each year. However, in New Year's Day 2006, it was reported that there had been no accidents involving guns, bullets, or any other form of physical violence. |
| January 6 | Three Kings Day Epiphany |
Día de Reyes | This is a Commonwealth of Puerto Rico official holiday (día feriado), as well as a religious holiday. See notes below. |
| January 11 | Birthday of Eugenio María de Hostos | Natalicio de Eugenio María de Hostos | This is a Commonwealth of Puerto Rico official holiday. In recent years it is celebrated on the 2nd Monday of January. Eugenio de María de Hostos (1839-1903) was a writer and statesman who struggled for Puerto Rican independence and the end to slavery in the late 19th century. |
| Third Monday in February | Presidents' Day, Washington's Birthday | Día de los Presidentes Natalicio de Washington |
A national and Commonwealth of Puerto Rico official holiday |
| February 18 | Birthday of Luis Muñoz Marín | Natalicio de Luis Muñoz Marín | Luis Muñoz Marín (1898–1980), was the first democratically elected governor of Puerto Rico. He founded the Partido Popular Democrático, and was instrumental in established the Commonwealth status in 1952. He was a noted journalist and poet, and served four terms as governor. His birthday is now celebrated concurrently with Washington and Lincoln. |
| March 22 | Emancipation Day | Día de la Abolición de Esclavitud | A Commonwealth of Puerto Rico official holiday. Slavery was abolished in Puerto Rico in 1873 while the Island was still a colony of Spain. |
| some Friday in late March or April | Good Friday | Viernes Santo | A Commonwealth of Puerto Rico official holiday and a religious holiday; see notes below in the religious holidays section. |
| April 16 | Birthday of José de Diego | Natalicio de José de Diego | A Commonwealth of Puerto Rico (ELA) official holiday. José de Diego (1867–1918) was a much-loved poet and politician leader. In recent years the holiday is celebrated on the third Monday of April. |
| Last Monday in May | Memorial Day | Recordación de los Muertos de la Guerra | A national and Commonwealth holiday |
| July 4 | Independence Day | Día de la Independencia de los Estados Unidos Día de la Independencia |
Both a National and Commonwealth of Puerto Rico official holiday, though not usually celebrated as big as in the States |
| July 15 | Birthday of Don Luis Muñoz Rivera | Natalicio de Don Luis Muñoz Rivera | A Commonwealth of Puerto Rico holiday, celebrated in recent year concurrent with the 4th of July. Don Luis Muñoz Rivera (1859–1916) was a prominent journalist, poet, and politician who advocated independence from Spain and later, the United States. His son Luis Muñoz Marín was the first democratically elected governor of Puerto Rico. |
| July 25 | Commonwealth Constitution Day | Constitución del Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico | An official Commonwealth of Puerto Rico holiday. See also Constitution of Puerto Rico. |
| July 27 | Birthday of Dr. José Celso Barbosa | Natalicio de Dr. José Celso Barbosa | Commonwealth of Puerto Rico (ELA) holiday. Dr. José Celso Barbosa (1857–1921) was a medical doctor and an early advocate of statehood, founder of the Republican Party on the Island. |
| First Monday in September | Labor Day | Día del Trabajo | Both a national and Commonwealth of Puerto Rico official holiday |
| Second Monday in October | Columbus Day | Día de la Raza Descubrimiento de América |
Both a national and Commonwealth of Puerto Rico official holiday |
| November 11 | Veteran's Day | Día del Veterano Día del Armisticio |
An official national celebration is held at the Puerto Rico National Cemetery |
| November 19 | Discovery of Puerto Rico | Día del Descubrimiento de Puerto Rico | A Commonwealth of Puerto Rico official holiday. Christopher Columbus (Don Cristóbal Colón) landed on the northwest coast of Puerto Rico near Aguada on his second voyage to the New World in 1493. alan Puerto Rico is the only territory associated with the United States that Columbus saw with his own eyes. |
| Fourth Thursday in November | Thanksgiving Day | Acción de Gracias Día de Acción de Gracias |
Both a federal and Commonwealth of Puerto Rico official holiday |
| December 24 | Christmas Eve | Día de Noche Buena | A Commonwealth of Puerto Rico official holiday, sometimes only a half-day off work |
| December 25 | Christmas | Día de Navidad Navidad |
Delivery day for Santa Claus. Like in the mainland United States, Santa Claus will leave the Christmas presents under the "Arbolito" Christmas tree. However, Puerto Rican children do not leave "milk and cookies" for Santa. No other country on the planets celebrates a holiday for so long; while many countries that celebrate Christmas may last a couple of days (four or five), in Puerto Rico they generally start with December, and end Jan.17th. |
| December 31 | New Year's Eve | Año Viejo | A Commonwealth of Puerto Rico official holiday; like Christmas Eve, sometimes only a half-day off work |
[edit] Religious holidays
| Date | English name | Local name (in Spanish) | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|
| January 5 | Eve of Epiphany | Víspera de los Tres Reyes Magos | Puerto Rican children leave a box with grass for the camels of the Three Wise Men and a glass of water for the magos themselves. |
| January 6 | Three Kings Day Epiphany |
Día de los Tres Reyes Magos | Children find that the camels ate the grass and the Three Kings drank the water left for them by the kids the day before. Hopefully the Kings left presents under the bed. |
| the week before Ash Wednesday | Carnival | Carnaval | Like other Catholic cultures (Brazil, Trinidad, Louisiana), the solemn 40 days of Lent is preceded in Puerto Rico by a massive blow-out with elaborate costumes and parades. In the port city of Ponce in particular, Carnival time means characters in the streets wearing incredible folkloric, horned-devil masks, called vejigantes. |
| First day of Lent | Ash Wednesday | Miércoles de Ceniza | |
| Sunday before Easter Sunday | Palm Sunday | Domingo de Ramos | |
| Palm Sunday through Easter | Holy Week | Semana Santa | Most schools, colleges, and universities give the complete week as a recess to students. |
| Friday before Easter | Good Friday | Viernes Santo | This is the most solemn day of the whole year on the Island. Every business will be closed. |
| Easter | Easter | Domingo de la Resurrección Domingo de Pascuas |
|
| June 24 | Saint John's Day | Día de San Juan Bautista Fiestas de San Juan |
Since John the Baptist is the patron saint of the Island and the namesake of the capital city (San Juan), his day is widely celebrated by big parties on the beaches. One tradition is to walk backward into the ocean and fall in at the end of the party. |
| December 24 | Christmas Eve | Nochebuena Día de Nochebuena |
Christmas traditions in Puerto Rico include a large supper with families and friends on Xmas Eve, and the Midnight Mass or misa de gallo.Anytime during las navidades neighbors and friends make a parranda or asalto, going from house to house singing Puerto Rican Christmas carols. Once everything has been eaten and drunk, the erstwhile 'host' joins the trulla and they all go to somebody else's home. |
| December 28 | Day of the Innocents, Festival of the Masks | Día de los Innocentes Día de las Máscaras en Hatillo |
A Christmas season tradition in the town on Hatillo on the north coast. Similar to Mardi Gras "crewes" in Louisiana, teams of friends totally cover cars, trucks, and floats with elaborate frilly decorations, and wearing head-to-toe costumes, they cruise the country roads, playing practical jokes along the way. There is a not-to-be missed half-day long parade, full of loud noise and brilliant colors. The tricksters commemorate Herod's soldiers and the slaughter of the innocents in Bethlehem. |
[edit] Others
| Date | English name | Local name (in Spanish) | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|
| January 7th – 15th | no exact English equivalent | Las Octavitas | There is no country on Earth that celebrates Christmas as long and as hard as Puerto Rico. But just in case you didn't get enough lechón and parrandas before Three Kings Day, during Las Octavitas you get another chance — eight days more — to see friends and family during the most festive season of the year. THEN Christmas in Puerto Rico is officially (finally) over. |
| Third week of January | San Sebastian Street Festival | Fiestas de la Calle de San Sebastián | Puerto Rican arts, crafts, food, and music are feted all along Calle San Sebastián in Old San Juan, culminating in a colorful street parade of comic characters with gigantic paper-maché heads. Some of these cabezudos are from well-known folkloric tales; others are former políticos. Other cabezudos represent people who used to be seen every day in Old San Juan years ago. |
| February 14 | Valentine's Day | San Valentín Día de San Valentín |
A day that is famed among young teens for "month-a-versaries" (planned to coincide with the day), forming new relationships, and its many nasty break-ups (a common expression when such a thing happens is "¡Ay, que forma de celebrar el Día de San Valentín!, Spanish for What a way to spend St. Valentine's!) |
| End of February | Coffee Festival | Fiesta de Café | celebrated in the town of Yauco |
| Second Sunday in May | Mother's Day | Día de las Madres | |
| Third Sunday in June | Father's Day | Día de los Padres | |
| Sometime in June | Casals Festival | Fiesta de Pablo Casals | The world-famous cellist Pablo Casals lived in Puerto Rico for many years. Classical music lovers honor his memory during this international music festival, held mainly in San Juan. |
| First week in July | Festival of the Flowers | Fiesta de las Flores | A week-long party in the high mountain town of Aibonito. The name of the town means "Oh, how beautiful." Orchid growers and other florists make the name doubly true every year in early July. |
| September 23 | Lares Revolt | Grito de Lares | The town of Lares witnessed the first rebellion in favor of independence from Spain in 1868. Puerto Rican Nationalists and present-day advocates of independence from the United States still reconvene every year in the high mountain towns of the Cordillera Central. |
| Sometime in October | Plantain Festival | Fiesta de Plátano | The town of Corozal honors this cousin of the sweet banana, so important in traditional Puerto Rican diet that in the 19th century it was nicknamed "nuestro pan" as in, our daily bread. Plantains and bananas both come to Puerto Rico from Africa, brought by the Spaniards. |
| October 31 | Halloween | Día de las Brujas, there is also a Hispanicized version of Halloween | Halloween is largely celebrated, particularly by children of a young age, always chapperoned, otherwise it is unadvisable for little kids to leave the house. Young teens take to throwing Halloween parties (mostly to have a reason to throw a party; costumes and candy aren't usually remembered). Celebration of the holiday out on the streets asking for candy has declined |
