Public holidays in Bermuda
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This is a list of regular named Holidays in Bermuda.[1] Every Sunday is also considered a holiday.[2]
| Name | 2015 Date | 2016 Date[3] | 2017 Date | 2018 Date | 2019 Date | 2020 Date | 2021 Date[4] | 2022 Date[5] | 2023 Date[5] | 2024 Date[6] | 2025 Date[7] | 2026 Date[8] | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New Year's Day | 1 January | 1 January | 2 January | 1 January | 1 January | 1 January | 1 January | 3 January | 2 January | 1 January | 1 January | 1 January | if on a weekend, will be moved to the next Monday |
| Good Friday | 3 April | 25 March | 14 April | 30 March | 19 April | 10 April | 2 April | 15 April | 7 April | 29 March | 18 April | 3 April | Notable for extensive Bermuda kite flying. |
| Bermuda Day | 25 May | 24 May | 24 May | 25 May | 24 May | 29 May | 28 May | 27 May | 26 May | 24 May | 23 May | 22 May | Previously known as Victoria Day, Empire Day, and Commonwealth Day. |
| National Heroes Day | 15 June | 20 June | 19 June | 18 June | 17 June | 15 June | 21 June | 20 June | 19 June | 17 June | 16 June | 15 June | This holiday began in 2008, first commemorated on 12 October 2008 and was moved to replace the Queen's Official Birthday in 2009.[9][10][11] |
| Emancipation Day | 30 July | 28 July | 3 August | 2 August | 1 August | 30 July | 29 July | 28 July | 3 August | 1 August | 31 July | 30 July | First day of Cup Match; formerly Cup Match Day until 2000. |
| Mary Prince Day | 31 July | 29 July | 4 August | 3 August | 2 August | 31 July | 30 July | 29 July | 4 August | 2 August | 1 August | 31 July | Second day of Cup Match. Named after Mary Prince, until 2020 was known as Somers' Day after Sir George Somers.[12] |
| Labour Day | 7 September | 5 September | 4 September | 3 September | 2 September | 7 September | 6 September | 5 September | 4 September | 2 September | 1 September | 7 September | Established in 1982.[13][14] The symbolic end of summer. |
| Remembrance Day | 11 November | 11 November | 13 November | 12 November | 11 November | 11 November | 11 November | 11 November | 13 November | 11 November | 11 November | 11 November | A service is held at the cenotaph in Hamilton; if on a weekend, will be moved to the next Monday |
| Christmas Day | 25 December | 27[15][16] December | 25 December | 25 December | 25 December | 25 December | 27 December | 26 December | 25 December | 25 December | 25 December | 25 December | normally the 25th, but the day off will be moved, if on a weekend |
| Boxing Day | 28[17][18] December | 26 December | 26 December | 26 December | 26 December | 28 December | 28 December | 27 December | 26 December | 26 December | 26 December | 26 December | normally the 26th, but the day off will be moved, if on a weekend |
There are exceptional Holidays from time to time. E.g. 8 May 2023 was such a public holiday to commemorate the King's Coronation.[19]
Nature of Public Holidays
The official list of Public Holidays was set out in 1947 in the Public Holidays Act. Since the Act has been amended a number of times including in 2009 to move the National Heroes Day from October to June to replace the Queen's Official Holiday and the replacement of Somers' Day with Mary Prince Day in 2020.
Emancipation Day and Mary Prince Day (formerly Cup Match Day and Somers' Day) which last two days, are know together be known as Cup Match, during which an intra-island cricket game is played between the Somerset Cricket Club in the east of the island and St. George's Cricket Club in the west. The Cup Match was created to celebrate and commemorate the emancipation of enslaved people in Bermuda and has taken place since at least 1902.[20][21]
Public holidays featured nearly a complete shut-down of Bermuda, with all public offices and stores closed. Not only was the sale of goods on public holidays made illegal, but offering items for sale and even allowing customers into a store constituted an offense. Hotel restaurants, pharmacies and stores that had been granted special licenses by the government were exempted from this.
In March 2005, the Bermuda government passed a major amendment to the Act that allowed stores to finally open. It required that employers give their staff at least seven days (written) notice of a need for their service; it also required that employers inform those employees of their right to refuse, and prohibited any sort of disciplinary action or dismissal for employees who did refuse.
