Official holidays 2005 - Official holidays 2006
- Saturday, 1 January: New Year’s Day.
- Friday, 21 January: Our Lady of Altagracia Day.
- Sunday, 27 February: Independence Day.
- Saturday, 24 September: Our Lady of Mercedes
- Sunday, 6 November: Constitution Day.
- Sunday, 25 December: Christmas Day.
The following holidays will be celebrated on the closest Monday to the actual date:
- Thursday, 6 January: Epiphany Day. To be celebrated on Monday, 10 January.
- Wednesday, 26 January: Duarte Day. To be celebrated on Monday, 24 January.
- Sunday, 1 May: Labor Day. To be celebrated on Monday, 2 May.
- Tuesday, 16 August: Restoration Day. To be celebrated on Monday, 15 August.
Rotating days as per the Roman Catholic Church calendar:
- Friday, 25 March. Good Friday
- Thursday, 26 May. Corpus Christi Day
Not a holiday, but observed by many:
- Tuesday, 26 April. National Secretary Day.
- Wednesday afternoon and Thursday before Good Friday (23-26 March).
- Sunday, 29 May Mother’s Day (last Sunday in the month).
- Sunday, 31 July. Father’s Day (last Sunday in the month).
- Saturday, 24 December. Christmas Day (especially in the afternoon).
- Saturday, 31 December. New Year’s Eve (especially in the afternoon).
Note that December is for Dominicans, what August is for Europeans. Do not expect to get anything major done in December. Too many parties going on.
Domestic vacation peak times in 2005:
January will become quite an extension of December, this year. The Ministry of
Labor chose to push the 6 January Epiphany Day holiday to be celebrated on
Monday, 10 January. Thus most schools will restart on Tuesday, 11 January,
making for a very long Christmas break.
And things only get better in 2005, with Our Lady of Altagracia Day, 21 January falling on a Friday, and blending into the Monday, 24 January off day for Duarte Day, for another four-day extended weekend.
This compensates for the four holidays of the year that in 2005 fall on a Sunday: Independence Day, Constitution Day and Christmas Day, New Year’s Day (2006).
Other long weekend holidays:
Easter Week. Usually Thursday through Sunday (22-26 March).
Labor Day. While it falls on a Sunday this year, t