Handy List of Public Holidays in Mexico

Site of Ruins Near Tulum, Quintana Roo (photo by Manny Serrato)

​Here's a Handy List of Public Holidays in Mexico

January

• January 1: Ano Nuevo (New Year’s Day)
• January 6: Dia de Los Santos Reyes is the day when Mexicans exchange Christmas presents in accordance with the day when the 3 gift-bearing wise men visited Jesus Christ. This day marks the end of Mexican Christmastime festivities.
• January 17: The Feast Day of San Antonio de Abad is a religious holiday, during which the Catholic Church allows animals to enter the church for blessing.

February

• February 2: Dia de la Candelaria (Candlemas) is a religious holiday that is celebrated with processions, dancing, and the blessing of the seeds and candles. Some cities also celebrate with bullfights. 
• February 5: Dia de la Constitucion is an official holiday that commemorates Mexico’s Constitution. 
• February 26 to March 4 (approximately): Carnaval is an official Mexican holiday that involves a 5-day celebration of the libido before Catholic Lent. Carnaval begins the weekend before Lent and is celebrated exuberantly with parades, floats, and dancing in the streets. Port towns such as Cozumel, Ensenada, La Paz, Mazatlán, and Veracruz are excellent places to watch the Carnaval festivities.
• February 24: Flag Day is national Mexican holiday that honors the Mexican flag.

March

• March 18: La Expropiacion Petrolera is a civic holiday marking the Oil Expropriation of March 18, 1938.
• March 19: Dia de San Jose (St. Joseph’s Day), a religious holiday that’s best celebrated in in Tamuin, San Luis Potosi.
• March 21: The Birthday of Benito Juarez is a holiday honoring the famous Mexican President and national hero Benito Juarez. 

April

• Semana Santa: Semana Santa is the holy week that ends the 40-day Lent period. This week includes Good Friday and Easter Sunday. It is Mexican custom to break confetti-filled eggs over the heads of friends and family during this time.

May

• May 1: Primero de Mayo is a national Mexican holiday that is a lot like Labor Day in the US. 
• May 3: Dia de la Santa Cruz (Day of the Holy Cross) is a day on which construction workers decorate and mount crosses on unfinished buildings. The day is also celebrated with fireworks and picnics at construction sites.
• May 5: Cinco de Mayo is the national Mexican holiday that honors the Mexican victory over the French army in 1862.
• May 10: Mother’s Day is an especially significant holiday in Mexico, because mothers are an extremely important part of Mexican Culture. 
  

June

• June 1: Navy Day
• June 24: Saint John the Baptist Day is celebrated with religious festivities and fairs. 
• June 29: Fiesta of Saint Peter and Saint Paul

September

• September 1 (approximately): The State of the Union is given in the fall. The President gives his annual address to the nation. 
• September 13: Los Niños Héroes (Heroes of the Mexican-American War) is the day on which the President of Mexico commemorates those who fought during the Mexican-American War with a wreath-laying ceremony at the monument to Los Niños Héroes in Chapultepec Park.
• September 16: Mexican Independence Day celebrates the day that Miguel Hidalgo delivered El Grito de Dolores and announced the Mexican revolt against Spanish rule.

October

• October 12: Día de la Raza is a day marking Columbus’s arrival to the Americas and the historical origins of the Mexican race.

November

• November 1-2: Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) is an important Mexican holiday that merges Pre-Columbian beliefs with modern Catholicism. The day is meant to honor Mexico’s dead. 
• November 20: Mexican Revolution Day commemorates the Mexican Revolution of 1910. 

December

• December 12: Día de Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe (The Day of the Virgin of Guadalupe) is celebrated with feasting and honors Mexico’s patron saint.
• December 16-January 6: Las Posadas celebrates Joseph and Mary’s search for shelter in Bethlehem with candlelight processions that end at various nativity scenes. 
• December 25: Navidad is Mexico’s Christmas holiday.

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