Dominican holidays

Official holidays 2004 - Official holidays 2005

• Thursday, 1 January: New Year's Day.
• Tuesday, 6 January: Epiphany Day.
• Wednesday, 21 January: Our Lady of Altagracia Day.
• Friday, 27 February: Independence Day.
• Friday, 24 September: Day of Our Lady of Mercedes.
• Saturday, 25 December: Christmas Day.

The following holidays will be celebrated on the same days as they fall either on a Monday or Saturday this year. Elsewise, they would have been celebrated on the closest Monday or Friday to the actual date:

• Monday, 26 January: Duarte Day.
• Saturday, 1 May: Labor Day.
• Monday, 16 August: Restoration of Dominican Independence from Spain. Celebrated on the same day.
• Saturday, 6 November: Constitution Day.

Rotating days as per the Roman Catholic Church calendar:

• Friday, 9 April 2004 Good Friday.
• Thursday, 10 June 2004 Corpus Christi Day.

Not a holiday but observed by many:

• Monday, 26 April: National Secretary Day.
• Wednesday afternoon and Thursday before Good Friday (7-11 April).
• Sunday, 30 May: Mother's Day (last Sunday in the month).
• Sunday, 25 July: Father's Day (last Sunday in the month).
• Friday 24 December, especially in the afternoon.
• Friday, 31 December, especially in the afternoon.

Domestic vacation peak times in 2004: Note that this year there are many long weekends:

• New Year long weekend. Wednesday, 31 December through Sunday, 4 January. Since 6 January is also a holiday, this could be an extraordinarily long weekend for those who can take the days off.
• Easter Week holiday (Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday (7-11 April 2004).
• Duarte Day long weekend. Friday, 23 January-Monday, 26 January 2003.
• Independence Day long weekend. Friday, 27 February through Sunday, 29 February.
• Corpus Christi long weekend. Thursday, 10 June-Sunday, 13 June 2003.
• Restoration Day long weekend this year because it falls on a Monday (16 August 2004). This year the date also marks the inaugural of the President of the Republic for the term 2004-2008.
• Our Lady of Mercedes long weekend as it falls on a Friday. Long weekend from Friday, 24 September 2003 through Sunday, 26 September.

Like Europeans take off August, do not expect much work to get done after the first week of December through after 6 January Epiphany Day. Since Epiphany Day falls on a Tuesday in 2004, expect an unusual extension of the holidays.