Public Holidays

New Year’s Day – Celebrated on the first day of the year. Junkanoo festivals are held.

Good Friday – Celebrated on the Friday before Easter Sunday. It is observed as the anniversary of the crucifixion of Christ.

Easter Monday – Celebrated on the Monday after Easter Sunday.

Whit Monday – Celebrated on the seventh Monday after Easter observing the descent of the Holy Ghost on the church on Whit Sunday or the day of Pentecost.

Labour Day – Celebrated on the first Friday in June. The holiday is set aside for special recognition of working people.

Independence Day – Celebrated on July 10th. This holiday commemorates The Bahamas’ Independence from Great Britain, July 10, 1973.

Emancipation Day – Celebrated on the first Monday in August (also known as August Monday). This holiday commemorates the freedom of slaves in 1834.

Discovery Day – Celebrated on October 12th. This holiday commemorates Christopher Columbus’ discovery of The Bahamas on this day in 1492.

Christmas Day – Celebrated on December 25th. The holiday commemorates the birth of Christ.

Boxing Day – Celebrated on December 26th. This is a traditional English holiday that was started centuries ago when left over Christmas were boxed by the landlords and given to tenants and servants. ( A Junkanoo parade takes place on this day.)

Did you know:
  • The island of Andros, the largest in The Bahamas, has the third largest barrier reef in the world.
  • Woodes Rogers was the last Governor of Virginia and the first Royal Governor of The Bahamas.
  • A stromatolite limestone reef on the eastern shore of Exuma is considered the oldest evidence of life on earth.
  • The island of Inagua has the second largest reservation of flamingoes in the world and is home to the plant of the producers of Morton Salt.
  • Harbor Island, an island adjacent to the island of Eleuthera, is the only one of two areas in the world that has pink sand.
  • The bark of the Cascarilla tree, grown in a few Out Islands, is exported and used to flavor Campari and Vermouth.
  • On a visit in the 1760’s, George Washington referred to The Bahamas as the Isles of Perpetual June.
  • From 1940-1945, HRH Duke of Windsor who was King of England and abdicated the throne, married a commoner and was Royal Governor of The Bahamas.
  • Sir Harry Oakes, an immensely wealthy American was murdered here in The Bahamas in 1943 and his death is still the world’s longest unsolved murder.
  • The Bahamas has the cleanest waters in the world with visibility of over 200 ft. It has been scientifically proven that a specific algae, which requires light to live, is found deeper in The Bahamas than anywhere else on earth.
  • The Graycliff Restaurant was built by a pirate called John Howard Gray smith in the 1720’s and has the largest wine cellar in the Caribbean with wines worth in excess of $100,000 per bottle.