Dominican holidays

This is a comprehensive listing of official and non-official holidays and long weekends set for 2015. These dates are important to know, both for work and for programming vacation time. Note as elsewhere in the world, long weekends will bring droves of locals to hotels all around the country, with the consequential bottlenecks on highways and crowded establishments in the resort areas. It is also a good time to enjoy the cities.

Official holidays 2015 [2014]

These holidays will be celebrated on their actual days in 2015:

  • Thursday, 1 January: New Year's Day
  • Wednesday, 21 January: Our Lady of Altagracia Day
  • Monday, 26 January: Duarte Day
  • Friday, 27 February: Independence Day
  • Friday, 3 April: Good Friday
  • Thursday: 4 June: Day of Corpus Christi
  • Sunday, 16 August: Day of Restoration.
  • Thursday, 24 September: Our Lady of Mercedes Day
  • Friday, 25 December: Christmas Day.

Rotating official holidays:

The following holidays are being celebrated on the closest Monday to the actual date:

  • Monday, 5 January: Celebrates Three Kings Day that actually falls on Tuesday, 6 January.
  • Monday, 4 May: Celebrates Labor Day that actually falls on Friday, 1 May.
  • Monday, 9 November: Celebrates Constitution Day that actually falls on Friday, 6 November.

There will be four non-rotating official religious holidays:

  • Wednesday, 21 January: Our Lady of Altagracia Day
  • Friday, 3 April: Good Friday
  • Thursday: 4 June: Day of Corpus Cristi
  • Thursday, 24 September: Our Lady of Mercedes Day

Days that are not a holiday, but observed by many:

  • Thursday, 2 April: The Thursday before Good Friday that falls on 3 April.
  • Friday, 24 April: National Secretary Day. The actual holiday falls on Sunday, 26 April.
  • Sunday, 31 May: Mother's Day. Last Sunday in May.
  • Sunday, 31 July: Father's Day. Last Sunday in July.
  • Thursday, 24 December: Christmas Eve Day.
  • Tuesday, 31 December. New Year's Eve.

Note that December is for Dominicans, what August is for Europeans. Do not expect too much to be done in December, unless entertainment related. Too many parties going on.

Long weekends in 2015 (with Mondays falling on a holiday). Take note that on many of these, school may be called off:

  • 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 January: Celebrations for the New Year’s on 31 December will blend in with those for Three Kings Day that in 2015 is celebrated on 5 January, making for an extra long weekend.
  • 27, 28 February, 1 March: Independence Day long weekend. Independence Day is on Friday, 27 February.
  • 2, 3, 4, 5 April: Easter Long Weekend. Dominicans will take off from Thursday, 2 April as school is called off from Easter Monday.
  • 4, 5, 6, 7 June: Corpus Christi Long Weekend is four days long because the holiday falls on a Thursday. While Friday is a working day, many will take the long weekend that marks the start of summer for Dominicans.
  • 24, 25, 26, 27 December: Christmas Day in 2015 falls on a Friday, creating a four-day long weekend-holiday starting with the Christmas Eve celebrations on 24 December.
  • 31 December, 1, 2, 3, 4 January: New Year’s Day long weekend. Expect the Christmas Day celebrations to merge into the New Year’s celebrations making for almost two weeks of non-work at the end of the year.

http://www.ministeriodetrabajo.gob.do