Puerto Rico celebrates all official U.S. holidays,[1] and other official holidays established by the Commonwealth government. Additionally, many municipalities celebrate their own Patron Saint Festivals (fiestas patronales in Spanish), as well as festivals honoring cultural icons like bomba y plena, danza, salsa, hamacas (hammocks), and popular crops such as plantains and coffee.
Until June 30, 2014, there were 19 public holidays in Puerto Rico. As a result of a new Commonwealth law, after July 1, 2014, the Commonwealth government consolidated three of its former holidays (Luis Muñoz Rivera, José Celso Barbosa, and Luis Muñoz Marín) into just one called Día de los Próceres Puertorriqueños (The Day of Illustrious Puerto Ricans), and reducing the number of holidays observed publicly to 17. As part of the new law, the third Monday of February became Día de los Próceres Puertorriqueños when, in addition to commemorating the birth of those three illustrious Puerto Ricans will also include commemorating the birthdays of four other illustrious Puerto Ricans – Ramón Emeterio Betances, Román Baldorioty de Castro, Ernesto Ramos Antonini and Luis A. Ferré. The law mandated that the Eugenio María de Hostos holiday and the José de Diego holiday would continue to be observed on their respective days as usual.[2] [3]
Official public holidays are those recognized by the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico government. All public offices must close. Many businesses also elect to close. These public holidays include both federal and commonwealth-established holidays, since Puerto Rico recognizes all U.S. federal holidays.[4]
| Date | English name | Official name in Spanish[5] | Remarks | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January 1 | New Year's Day | Spanish; Castilian: Día de Año Nuevo | As in most countries, this holiday is celebrated with gatherings and fireworks. Although illegal, celebratory gunfire has sometimes led to injuries and even deaths on certain occasions.[6] Official commonwealth and federal holiday. | |
| January 6 | Three Kings Day/ Epiphany | Spanish; Castilian: Día de Reyes | This is a Commonwealth of Puerto Rico official holiday, as well as a religious holiday. It celebrates the Three Wise Men's visit to see the newborn Christ by exchanging gifts. Traditionally, children stack bundles of hay in boxes under their beds for each Wise Man's camel, to then find their boxes exchanged for gifts.[7] | |
| Third Monday of January | Martin Luther King, Jr. Day | Spanish; Castilian: Natalicio del Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. | A federal and commonwealth official holiday. | |
| Third Monday of February | Presidents' Day | Spanish; Castilian: Día de Jorge Washington, Día de los Presidentes y el Día de las Mujeres y Hombres Próceres de Puerto Rico | A federal and commonwealth official holiday. Also known as Spanish; Castilian: Día de los Presidentes. Some former holidays were merged into this one: Birthday of Eugenio María de Hostos, Birthday of Luis Muñoz Marín, Birthday of José de Diego, and Birthday of Luis Muñoz Rivera | |
| March 2 | American Citizenship Day | Spanish; Castilian: Día de la Ciudadanía Americana | A Commonwealth of Puerto Rico holiday. Puerto Ricans have been American citizens since March 2, 1917. | |
| March 22 | Emancipation Day | Spanish; Castilian: Día de la Abolición de Esclavitud | A Commonwealth of Puerto Rico official holiday. Slavery was abolished in Puerto Rico in 1873—eight years after the ratification of the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, as the Island was still a colony of Spain at the time. | |
| Friday in late March or early April | Good Friday | Spanish; Castilian: Viernes Santo | An official public holiday and a religious holiday. (See notes below in the religious holidays section.) | |
| Last Monday of May | Memorial Day | Spanish; Castilian: Día de la Conmemoración de los Muertos en la Guerra | A federal and commonwealth official holiday. Also known as Spanish; Castilian: Día de la Recordación. | |
| June 19 | Juneteenth | A federal official holiday. | ||
| July 4 | Independence Day | Spanish; Castilian: Día de la Independencia de los Estados Unidos | A federal and commonwealth official holiday. | |
| July 25 | Puerto Rico Constitution Day | Spanish; Castilian: Día de la Constitución de Puerto Rico | An official Commonwealth of Puerto Rico holiday. (See also Constitution of Puerto Rico.) Formerly called Occupation Day, commemorating the anniversary of the landing of American troops at Guánica in 1898. | |
| July 27 | Birthday of José Celso Barbosa | Spanish; Castilian: Día de 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 of September | Labor Day | Spanish; Castilian: Día del Trabajo | A federal and commonwealth official holiday. | |
| Second Monday of October | Columbus Day | Spanish; Castilian: Día de la Raza (Descubrimiento de América) | A federal and commonwealth official holiday. | |
| November 11 | Veterans Day | Spanish; Castilian: Día del Veterano | A federal and commonwealth official holiday, usually observed at the Puerto Rico National Cemetery. Also known as Spanish; Castilian: Día del Armisticio. | |
| November 19 | Discovery of Puerto Rico | Spanish; Castilian: Día de la Puertorriqueñidad | A Commonwealth of Puerto Rico official holiday. Formerly known as Spanish; Castilian: Descubrimiento de Puerto Rico, as Christopher Columbus landed on the northwest coast of Puerto Rico near Aguada on this day in 1493. | |
| Fourth Thursday of November | Thanksgiving Day | Spanish; Castilian: Día de Acción de Gracias | A federal and commonwealth official holiday. It marks the beginning of the Holiday (Christmas) season. | |
| December 25 | Christmas | Spanish; Castilian: Día de Navidad | Official holiday. Also known as Spanish; Castilian: Nacimiento del niño Jesús. During Spanish colonial rule (1492 to 1898), Spanish; Castilian: Navidad (Christmas in English), marked the Christian ecumenical celebration date of the birth of Jesus of Nazareth. It was not until the development of the commercialization of Christmas, product of the subsequent American colonial rule, that Spanish; Castilian: Navidad becomes the delivery day for Spanish; Castilian: Papá Noel (Santa Claus). As in the rest of the United States, Spanish; Castilian: Papá Noel leaves Christmas presents under the Spanish; Castilian: Árbol de Navidad (Christmas tree). This has replaced in large part, but not entirely, the gift giving custom of Puerto Ricans in Three Kings Day. No other country celebrates a holiday for so long. Many countries celebrate Christmas for a couple of days, or as long as four or five. In Puerto Rico, however, the celebration starts after Thanksgiving and ends in the third week of January, on the last day of the St. Sebastian Street Festival in Old San Juan. |
| 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 Epiphanys Twelfth Night | Día de los Tres Reyes Magos | Children find that the camels ate the grass and the Three Kings drank the water left for them the day before. Traditionally the Kings leave presents under the children's beds. | |
| the week before Ash Wednesday | Carnival | Carnaval | Like other Catholic cultures (Brazil, Trinidad, Louisiana), the solemn 40 days of Lent are preceded in Puerto Rico by a massive blow-out with elaborate costumes and parades. In the city of Ponce, in particular, Carnival time means characters in the streets wearing incredible horned-devil masks, called vejigantes. | |
| First day of Lent | Ash Wednesday | Miércoles de Ceniza | Devout Roman Catholics abstain from eating meat or poultry on this day. Many attend church services. | |
| 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. All businesses close. | |
| 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 on the Eve of St. John's Day (June 23). One tradition is to walk backward into the ocean and fall in 12 times at midnight on the beginning of the 24th. | |
| December 24 | Christmas Eve | Nochebuena Día de Nochebuena | Christmas traditions in Puerto Rico include a large supper with families and friends on Christmas 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 house to eat and drink. | |
| 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 of Hatillo on the north coast. Similar to Mardi Gras "crewes" in Louisiana, teams of friends completely cover cars, trucks, and floats with elaborate frilly decorations, and wearing head-to-toe costumes, while cruising the country roads, and 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. |