This is a comprehensive listing of official and non-official holidays and long weekends set for 2011. 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 2011 [2010]
These holidays will be celebrated on their actual days in 2011:
- Saturday, 1 January: New Year's Day.
- Thursday, 21 January: Our Lady of Altagracia Day.
- Sunday, 27 February: Independence Day.
- Saturday, 24 September: Our Lady of Mercedes Day.
- Sunday, 6 November: Constitution Day.
- Sunday, 25 December: Christmas Day.
Rotating official holidays:
The following holidays are being celebrated on the closest Monday to the actual date:
- Monday, 10 January: Three Kings Day. Actually falls on Thursday, 6 January.
- Monday, 24 January. Day of Duarte. Actually falls on 26 January.
- Monday, 2 May. Labor Day. Actually falls on 1 May.
- Monday, 15 August. Restoration Day. Actually falls on 16 August.
Non-rotating official holidays following the Roman Catholic Church calendar:
- Friday, 22 April: Good Friday.
- Thursday, 23 June: Corpus Christi Day.
- Saturday, 24 September: Day of the Lady of Mercedes.
Not a holiday, but observed by many:
- Thursday, 21 April. The Thursday before Good Friday that falls on 22 April.
- Tuesday, 26 April. National Secretary Day.
- Sunday, 29 May. Mother's Day. Last Sunday in May.
- Sunday, 31 July. Father's Day. Last Sunday in July.
- Saturday, 24 December. Christmas Eve Day.
- Saturday, 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 2011 (with Monday's falling on a holiday):
- 7, 8, 9, 10 January. 3 Kings Day Long Weekend. Dominicans may take off from Thursday, 6 January, extending the holidays for a weekend dedicated to the family. This actually marks the end of the Christmas holidays.
- 21, 22, 23, 24 January. Altagracia Day (21 January, honoring the Virgin Mary protector of the Dominican Republic) + Duarte Day (which falls on Wednesday, 26 January) but will be celebrated on Monday 24 January.
- 22, 23, 24 April. Dominicans will take off from Thursday, 21 April. This is a peak vacation time for domestic travelers. Good Friday falls on 22 April in 2011.
- 23, 24, 25 June. Thursday, 23 June celebrates Corpus Christi Day, a religious holiday, and many will make it the first summer vacation, converting it into a long weekend.
- 12, 13, 14, 15, 16 August. This marks the Restoration Day holiday. The 16th falls on Tuesday, so for many Restoration Day will create a very long weekend, especially with it falling in August, when children are off on school vacations.
For the official government holidays page, see http://www.set.gov.do/descargas/download/DiasFeriados2011.doc