Puerto Rico Holidays And Festivals

Puerto Ricans love a good party; there is some kind of festival or event somewhere on the island nearly every week. The island has three primary types of celebration—patron saint festivals, harvest festivals, and national holidays. Almost every town celebrates at least one patron saint festival (see list below) with singing, dancing, rides, religious processions, concerts, and banquets of regional food spread out over 10 days. Typically held in the town square, these festivals are based on Catholic saints, but some incorporate elements of African culture as well. Harvest festivals are celebrated with similar festivities to commemorate the end of the harvest season. Despite the fact that agriculture has become increasingly unimportant to Puerto Rico’s economy, many towns still host at least one harvest festival; see individual town write-ups. As for national holidays, Puerto Rico celebrates both US and Puerto Rican holidays. Because many of these holidays, such as Memorial Day and important birthdays, are held on Mondays, the island has a surplus of three-day weekends.

Finally, Puerto Rico also has a smattering of festivities that do not fall into specific categories. San Juan hosts several festivals, from cultural events (San Juan CinemaFest and Heineken Jazz Festival) to events that are just an excuse to party (Gallery Nights, Festival de la Calle San Sebastián). The island also has three major festivals that incorporate vejigante masks. Though far from Rio, Ponce’s carnaval festival is still a major event. Loíza’s carnaval, held in late July , incorporates more African traditions, while Hatillo’s mask festival in late December is based on the island’s Spanish heritage. One of the island’s most unique festivals is Aibonito’s spectacular Flower Festival, a modern-day variation on the traditional harvest festival .

Date	Holiday	Name In Spanish
January 1	New Year’s Day	El Año Nuevo
January 6	Epiphany/Three Kings’ Day	Día de Reyes
January 11	María de Hostos’s birthday	Día del Natalicio de Eugenio Maria de Hostos
January 21, 2008/January 19, 2009	Martin Luther King Jr. Day	Día de Martin Luther King Jr.
February 18, 2008/February 16, 2009	President’s Day	Día de los Presidentes
March 22	Emancipation Day	Día de Abolición de Esclavitud
March 2, 2008/April 10, 2009	Good Friday	Viernes Santo
April 16	José de Diego’s birthday	Día de José de Diego
May 26, 2008/May 25, 2009	Memorial Day	Día de la Recordación
June 23	St. John the Baptist Day	Día de San Juan Bautista
July 4	US Independence Day	Día de la Independencia de los Estados Unidos
July 17	Luis Muñoz Riviera’s birthday	Día del Natalicio de Luis Muñoz Riviera
July 25	Constitution Day	Día de la Constitución de Puerto Rico
July 27	José Celso Barbosa’s birthday	Día del Natalicio de José Celso Barbosa
September 1, 2008/September 7, 2009	Labor Day	Día del Trabajo
October 13, 2008/October 12, 2009	Columbus Day	Día del Descubrimiento de América
November 11	Veterans Day	Día del Veterano
November 19	Discovery of Puerto Rico Day	Día del Descubrimiento de Puerto Rico
November 27, 2008/November 26, 2009	Thanksgiving	Día de Acción de Gracias
December 25	Christmas Day	Día de la Navidad

Patron Saint Festivals

Date	Patron Saint	Town
January 9	La Sagrada Familia	Corozal
February 2	La Virgen de la Candelaria	Coamo, Manatí, Mayagüez
February 3	San Blas	Coamo, Guayama
March 17	San Patricio	Loíza
March 19	San José	Ciales, Gurabo, Luquillo
March 31	San Benito	Patillas
April 29	San Pedro Martín	Guaynabo
May 1	Apóstol San Felipe	Arecibo
May 3	La Santa Cruz	Bayamón, Trujillo Alto
May 30	San Fernando	Carolina
June 13	San Antonio de Padua	Barranquitas, Ceiba, Dorado, Guayama, Isabela
June 24	San Juan Bautista	Maricao, Orocovis, San Juan
July 16	Virgen del Carmen	Arroyo, Barceloneta, Cataño, Hatillo, Morovis
July 25	Santiago Apóstol	Aibonito, Fajardo, Guánica, Loíza
July 31	San Germán	San Germán
August 30	Santa Rosa de Lima	Rincón
September 8	Nuestra Señora de la Monserrate	Jayuya, Moca, Salinas
September 29	San Miguel Arcangel	Cabo Rojo, Naranjito, Utuado
October 2	Los Angles Custodios	Yabucoa
October 7	Nuestra Señora del Rosario	Naguabo, Vega Baja
October 12	La Virgen del Pilar	Río Piedras
November 4	San Carlos Borromeo	Aguadilla
December 8	La Inmaculada Concepción de María	Humacao, Vieques
December 12	Nuestra Señora de la Guadalupe	Ponce
December 28	Día de los Inocentes	Hatillo, Morovis