Experience a Dominican Republic Holiday Today

What better time to travel to a new place than on a country's holiday? Dominican Republic is located in the Caribbean region.  Get to know the country's people and tradition. Live a life of festivities and fun in this culturally rich country.

Dominican Republic has a good mix of Spanish, French and African cultures. Here is a list of holidays and a first quarter year calendar of the events that you might want to look into when planning a trip to this country.

• The feast of the Epiphany this year is on January 6th. The Epiphany is one of the most important holidays in the Catholic calendar. It celebrates God coming to us in the form of his son, Jesus Christ. When you come to Dominican Republic during the feast of the Epiphany, you will experience and see how Dominicans are passionate about their beliefs and traditions.

• January 21st is the feast of Our Lady of Altagracia. This is a national holiday for Mary. If you want to go to the country on this time, don't forget to visit the largest Marian shrine in the country, located at Higuey.


• Duarte's day is held on January 26th this year. This is a very important holiday for the country. Juan Pablo Duarte is one of the founding fathers of Dominican Republic.

• February 27th is the country's Independence Day. This is a non-working national holiday. A visit to the country's capital, Santo Domingo is bound to give you a holiday full of festivities.

• Holy Week. One of the best ways to celebrate holy week is to visit Dominican Republic. Enrich your soul through its rich catholic traditions. Be a part of various events and celebrations that take place in all parts of the country.

• Restoration day, a non-working holiday, is on August 16th. On this day, the country remembers the Dominican restoration war that happened between 1863 and 1865.

• The feast of Virgen de las Mercedes is on September 24th.  According to the locals, Virgen de las Mercedes appeared to a group of Spanish soldiers when they were fighting against the Taino Indians. The Lady also had several apparitions on Santo Cerro. A church was built in the area in her honor.

• Other holidays of Dominican Republic are constitution day on November, Christmas Eve and Christmas day on December.

Aside from the country's holidays, you can also plan a trip to Dominican Republic and be part of some of this year's events.

The Laser Midwinter Regatta is held yearly and starts on January. This event marks the start of the laser regatta calendar. The National Symphony Orchestra Season runs through the whole month of January at Eduardo Brito National Theatre in Santo Domingo, the country's capital. The Humpback Whales Observation Season is a 3-month event that will be held from January 15 until March 15.

Dominican Republic has a very rich story and traditions. Plan your trip by choosing any of their holidays so you can experience   a trip full of festivities and fun.

Dominican Republic Holidays – The Fiestas Patronales

Largely influenced by Spanish culture, the Dominican Republic is a country known for its string of Fiestas Patronales. Fiestas Patronales or patronage festivals are celebrations held in honor of various saints that have been adopted by towns or municipalities. In the Dominican Republic, there are hundreds of Fiestas Patronales celebrated each year, with each month seeing the celebration of as much as 12 holidays. Every day, it seems, Dominican Republic celebrates regional Fiestas Patronales.

Most towns in the Dominican Republic have their own celebrations of their Patron Saints. Typically, the celebrations start on the Friday – approximately one week – preceding the prescribed date of the feast. The Sunday before the feast date is celebrated by parades of 'imahenes' or images of the Saints being celebrated that are usually made of wood.

On the appointed date of the feast, Dominicans gather to start the local celebration, and on some occasions national celebrations, which include the parade of the images of the saint being commemorated, the parade of street dancers and performers, live band music, prayers, gastronomic feasts, and of course, street parties. The assortment of activities varies slightly from one Patron Saint to another, and from one town to another. Apparently, although the Catholic ceremonies and services are held, the majority of the celebration is anything but very religious.

Starting the year is one of the most significant Fiesta Patronal of the Dominican Republic – the Virgen de Altagracia. It is celebrated as the most important religious day in the nation, which is participated by thousands of devoted Dominicans. In 1922, Pope Pius XI crowned the Virgen de la Altagracia as the Spiritual Mother of the country.

Legend has it that the image of Our Lady of Altagracia that was brought by two men to Hispaniola in 1502 performed a miracle that has later encouraged the early Spanish settlers to build the first church in the province called Higuey. Nowadays, thousands of pilgrims and devotees pray and visit the Basilica of Altagracia that in Higuey to show their devotion to the Virgin Mother of Christ.

Perhaps the most important Fiesta Patronal celebrated in the Dominican Republic, the feast of Our Lady of Mercy, also known as Our Lady of Mercedes and Nuestra Senora de las Mercedes, is held every 24th of September. It is a non-working holiday that commemorates the adopted Patron Saint of the Dominican people. This celebration is distinct because it is specifically celebrated by way a pilgrimage to Saint Cerro's shrine near the city of La Vega.

There are plenty of other fiestas patronales celebrated throughout the country. From the beginning of the year to the end, there is no shortage of Catholic festivities in the Dominican Republic. After all, it is a Spanish practice and has become the Domincans' practice to associate each town with a patron saint. Although the most famous include feasts that are celebrated in Santo Domingo and Higuey thanks to their distinct way of celebrating their festivities – with joyous parades and artful costumes.

Dominican Republic Holidays – The Cocolo Festival

As the entire Dominican Republic celebrate the opening of the New Year on January 1st, some Dominicans hold events that give importance to one of the dying yet very prominent traditions in the land in a feast called the Cocolo Festival.

When the wave of African immigrants moved into Hispaniola during and after the Spaniards have settled in the land, they have brought many traditions with them that now compose the fibers of the Dominicans' culture. Among the groups of ethnic immigrants was the Cocolo tribe which originated from the Bahamas and the Greater Antilles. They are largely known as the English-speaking Caribbean people who brought with them a culture that has the elements of both the European and African cultures. It is, as many people have said before, the culmination of the merging of the cultures of the African slaves and the European colonizers. Although they still have retained their political and social economic authority.

Years after they have settled in Hispaniola, the Cocolo dancing drama tradition have developed. It was, among their own educational system and religion, the most distinct expressions of their culture. It was its peak during the mid-nineteenth century. In recent times, the assimilation of the Cocolo descendants with the majority of the Dominicans have caused the disintegration of the Cocolo's culture. Although, as is apparent in some areas in the Dominican Republic, the Cocolo dancing drama tradition is still very much alive.

In its original form, the dancing drama is performed on Christmas and on Carnavals. Nowadays, it is performed only in January in San Pedro de Macoris, a province in the Dominican Republic where the Cocolos originally settled.

The Cocolo Festival features the music, dances and songs that are patterned in the tunes of the original Cocolo music. These have African and European influences which make them very unique in the Dominican Republic, if not distinct from every other music in the world.

The music, for example, is patterned after the African pace and the dances have the steps and movements particular to the African court. Although when these are dramatized, they become an entirely different art form. They become almost exclusively European because of the themes and stories adopted. Among the most typical stories performed in the Cocolo Festival is the Mumme's Play, thus the Festival has become associated with street dancers and performers called the 'Mummers'. This tells of the story about St. George and his enemy. In summary, this reflects the main theme of the Cocolo dance drama – the battle between good and evil.

Other dance dramas and games usually performed at the Cocolo Festival are the 'Guloyas' and the 'Baile del Buey'. The 'Guloyas' consist of several groups of dancers who perform a variety of dances. Among the many they showcase is the 'Dance of Stilts' which requires dancers to dance on high stilts while wearing pompous jackets. The 'Baile del Buey', meanwhile, is performed by a festival character whose main features are identified with the bull.

The Cocolo Festival, although less popular than other Dominican Republic holidays, is indeed among the nation's more important heritage. It is no wonder that UNESCO has chosen it as an Intangible Heritage of Humanity.

Dominican Republic Holidays – The Christmas Day

Being predominantly Catholic, Christmas day takes a very special place in the Dominican Republic's holidays. Sure, there are no white Christmases or Christmas balls, but Dominicans have their special way of celebrating the centerpiece of all Christian holidays in the Caribbean.

First off, Dominicans start celebrating Christmas earlier than most people around the world. They start so early that their Christmas dinner, in fact, is held on the 24th of December, not on the traditional 25th observed by the rest of the world.

But the Christmas mood begins far earlier than that. Beginning on the first day of December, the Dominicans start playing traditional melodic Christmas tunes. Usually, groups of 2 to 4 persons play the official Dominican music, the Merengue, with the accordion, the drum and the güira to the tunes of Christmas carols, which set off anticipation for the celebrations to come.

The sense of community is very strong among Dominicans. This is why it is not surprising that informal Christmas parties, called the Aguinaldos, parties that are open for everybody and not just for a few family members are held throughout the nation. People could come from anywhere, whether they are invited or not. On most cases, people who participate in the Aguinaldos are the singing parties who, on their way to the Christmas party, have already visited a number of houses where they were either given a home-made ginger beverage called the 'jengibre' or a taste of what is served on the dinner table of the family they have visited, called 'bocadita'.

And of course, once everyone has gathered in a house where the party is set to kick off, partying, dancing, eating, and drinking begins. Beginning with traditional Dominican Republic carols, this party continues well into midnight.

The Aguinaldos have always been the typical Dominican Republic way of celebrating Christmas. These informal community parties are enjoyed in the most populated areas of the country where the sense of community is very strong.

Because most of the people in the Dominican Republic are mostly poor or middle class, the way Christmas is celebrated varies. It is very important though for every Dominican family to be together on Christmas eve and Christmas day. Both are official non-working holidays.

What would be Christmas if there are no Christmas decorations?

The Dominicans have a very distinct way of decorating their homes during Christmas. Most families have recreations of the Nativity or the Birth of Jesus Christ within their homes. These are called 'Nacimiento'. 'Charamico', the Dominican Republic's version of the Christmas tree, is the literal translation of 'dry branch'. To serve as a Christmas tree, the 'Charamico' is painted white and decorated with typical Christmas tree decors like balls, lights, and ribbons.

Dominicans also have their own special version of the European flower for Christmas called Poinsettia, which they call, 'Flor de Pascua'. Most homes also grow the 'Estrella de Natividad', literally translated as the 'Star of the Birth' of Christ.

Truly, Dominican Republic has very special ways of celebrating the festive season of Christmas.

Dominican Republic Holidays – Semana Santa

Any visitor new to the Dominican Republic will find a bewildering array of celebrations, festivities, holidays, and everything else in between. In fact, in the Dominican Republic, something fun is always happening somewhere every day of the year.

In most of the Catholic world, 'Semana Santa' or the Holy Week is a time for reflection, prayer, attrition and silence and other practices that generally encourage the faithful for time of quiet. This traditional practice has been going on for centuries at different degrees of relative silence in different Catholic countries all over.

The Dominican Republic with its own unique way of observing holidays practices, Semana Santa, a high point in Catholic worship, is celebrated in a way that only Dominicans could pull off. The general manner is very respectful, solemn, and prayerful. In fact, every tradition and method of worship is practiced and implemented by the Catholic hierarchy and observed by its people. But then again, why carry a sour countenance when this is the most important day of a people's salvation? Off to the beaches we go.

As if conditions encourage it, the weather from March to April, the week in which Semana Santa is celebrated, is ideal. For a tropical maritime nation, in fact, there is little choice other than to sulk in a corner. The water is incredibly clear, the weather is warm, there is a lot of sunshine, offices are closed, the food is great, and tourism is at its peak. Except for motorized water equipment and water sports, which the government bans during the season due to past numerous accidents, everything is perfect, which brings us to the only downside of spending Semana Santa in the island.

The beaches are packed, hotels the same. This is the Caribbean Sea and there is just that thing in the Caribbean that lures people from everywhere, in the Dominican Republic, this is more so. To top it, Dominicans love their beaches and the well-heeled can get reservations in the hotels quicker than anybody can. If the idea is to spend Semana Santa in the island, bookings are to be done very early.

Otherwise, spending Semana Santa in the Dominican Republic is by all accounts the most colorful Holy Week anyone could experience. Catholic traditions and celebrations are the same everywhere except that in with the Dominicans, there is a twist. Processions are a tradition in the church anywhere but here, you will get to chase that jerk, Judas. It all starts on a Thursday. People will be dressing up like Jews, centurions and other outlandish colorful fun costume and chase a running man rattling a tin can representing the payoff from selling Jesus. These are all for fun though. The excitement is whether Judas could elude his chasers, (many times he actually does) or not. It is a wild, colorful, and noisy event full of action and excitement.

Of course anyone who tires of that could always have rivers to ford, beaches to get the tan, hills to climb and snorkeling to do.