Public holidays in Bermuda

This is a list of named Holidays in Bermuda. Every Sunday is also considered a holiday.

Name	2011 Date	2012 Date	2013 Date	Remarks
New Year's Day	January 1	January 1	January 1
Good Friday	April 22	April 6	March 29	Notable for extensive Bermuda kite flying.
Bermuda Day	May 24	May 24	May 24	Previously known as Victoria Day, Empire Day, and Commonwealth Day.
National Heroes Day	June 20	June 18	June 17	This holiday began in 2008 and replaced the Queen's Official Birthday.
Emancipation Day	July 28	August 2	August 1	First day of Cup Match; Known as Cup Match Day until 2000.
Somers' Day	July 29	August 3	August 2	Second day of Cup Match, after Sir George Somers.
Labour Day	September 5	September 3	September 2	Established in 1982. The symbolic end of summer.
Remembrance Day	November 11	November 11	November 11	A service is held at the cenotaph in Hamilton.
Christmas Day	December 25	December 25	December 25
Boxing Day	December 26	December 26	December 26

Nature of Public Holidays

The official list of Public Holidays was set out in 1947 in the Public Holidays Act. Since then, the only change to the actual list has been the change of name of Cup Match Day to Emancipation Day at the end of 1999.

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.

External links

• [4] Bermuda Online