Public holidays in Mexico

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In Mexico, public holidays are legislated at the National, State and Municipal levels. These holidays are observed nationwide, but each state and/or city and/or region may have its own holidays as well.

[edit] Holidays

In Mexico there are 3 major kinds of holidays:

Statutory holiday: Holidays observed nationwide and employees (private and publics) are entitled to a day off with regular pay.
Civic holiday: These holidays are observed nationwide, but employees are not entitled to a day-off.
Festivities: These are traditional holidays to honor religious events, such as Carnival, Holy Week, Easter, etc. or public celebrations, such as Mother's day, Father's day, Valentine's Day, etc.

[edit] Statutory holidays

Statutory holidays (referred as "feriados" or "días de asueto" in Mexico) are legislated through the Federal Government and ruled by the Federal Labor Law (Ley Federal del Trabajo)^[1]. Most workers, public and private, are entitled to take the day off with regular pay. However, some employers may require employees to work on such a holiday, but the employee must be paid:

His/Her regular salary for the statutory holiday,
2 times (known as "double time") the regular pay for their time worked that day

When a statutory holiday falls on a Sunday, Monday is considered a statutory holiday; if a statutory holiday falls on Saturday, Friday will be considered statutory holiday.

Date	English name	Spanish name	Remarks
January 1	New Year's Day	Año Nuevo	First day of the year.
February 5	Constitution day	Día de la Constitución	Celebrates the Promulgation of the 1857 and 1917 Constitutions (See also Patriotic Holidays in Mexico). Observance: First Monday of February.
March 21	Benito Juárez's birthday	Natalicio de Benito Juárez	Commemorates President Benito Juárez's birthday on March 21, 1806 (See also Patriotic Holidays in Mexico). Observance: Third Monday of March
May 1	Labor day	Día del Trabajo	Commemorates the Mexican workers' union movements (See also Patriotic Holidays in Mexico).
September 16	Independence Day	Día de Independencia	Commemorates the start of the Independence War by Father Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla in 1810 (See also Patriotic Holidays in Mexico).
November 20	Revolution day	Día de la Revolución	Commemorates the start of the Mexican Revolution by Francisco I. Madero in 1910 (See also Patriotic Holidays in Mexico). Observance: Third Monday of November.
December 1	Change of Federal Government	Transmisión del Poder Ejecutivo Federal	Every six years, when a new President is sworn in office. Next observance: December 1, 2012.
December 25	Christmas	Navidad	Christmas celebration; secular holiday: Winter solstice.

In addition to these dates, it is a statutory holiday the date designated by Federal and Local Electoral laws to carry on an electoral journey.

[edit] Civic holidays

Civic holidays (or "Efemérides") are nationwide holidays, mostly related with historical events or institutions, like the Independence War or the Army. These days do not entitle employees from the private or public sectors to a day-off.

Date	English Name	Spanish Name	Remarks
February 19	Army's Day	Día del Ejército	Celebrates the Mexican Army on the Loyalty day ("Día de la Lealtad"), when President Madero was escorted by the Cadets of the Militar College to National Palace.
February 24	Flag Day	Día de la Bandera	Flag Day was implemented by President Lázaro Cárdenas in 1937. Celebrates the current Flag of Mexico and honores the previous ones.
March 18	Anniversary of the Oil Expropriation	Aniversario de la Expropiación petrolera	Celebrates the Oil Expropriation by President Gral. Lázaro Cárdenas in 1938.
April 21	Heroic Defense of Veracruz	Heroica Defensa de Veracruz	Commemorates the United States occupation of Veracruz in 1914.
May 5	Fifth of May	Cinco de Mayo	Celebrates the victory of the Mexican Army, led by Gral. Ignacio Zaragoza, against French forces in the city of Puebla, on May 5, 1862. Also widely celebrated in the United States. US "celebration" of this Mexican historical event is largely a result of promotions in the US by liquor, beer, and bars/taverns/clubs/restaurants since the 1980s. For many years Cinco de Mayo celebrations in the US promoted Cinco de Mayo as Mexican Independence Day which is actually September 16. Although Mexican citizens feel very proud of the meaning of Cinco de Mayo it is not a national holiday in Mexico, but it is an official holiday in the State of Puebla where the mentioned battle took place.
May 8	Miguel Hidalgo's birthday	Natalicio de Miguel Hidalgo	Commemorates the birth in 1753 of Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla, the initiator of the Mexican Independence War.
June 1	Marine's Day	Día de la Marina	Celebrates the Mexican Navy.
September 13	"Boy Heroes" or "Heroic Cadets"	Día de los Niños Héroes	Celebrates the Battle of Chapultepec during the Mexican–American War of 1847.
September 15	Cry of Dolores	Grito de Dolores	Celebrates the Grito de Dolores, an event that marked the start of the independence war against Spain on the eve of September 16, 1810. It took place at a church chapel in Dolores Hidalgo, Guanajuato, led by a creole catholic priest Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla. See also Fiestas Patrias (Mexico).
September 27	End of Independence War	Consumación de la Independencia	Celebrates the end of the Mexican Independence War on 1821, 11 years after Father Hidalgo started it.
September 30	Morelos' birthday	Natalicio de José Ma. Morelos y Pavón	Commemorates the birth in 1765 of Father José María Morelos y Pavón, one of the founding fathers of the Mexican nation.
October 12	Columbus Day	Descubrimiento de América y Día de la Raza	Commemorates the Discovery of the Americas in 1492 by the Italian navigator Christopher Columbus. It is also celebrates La Raza.

[edit] Festivities

Date	English Name	Spanish Name	Remarks
January 6	Epiphany	Día de los Santos Reyes	Celebrates the arrival of the Three Wise Men who came to see Jesus as a child, bringing him gifts from each of them. Traditionally, kids receive toys and people buy a pastry called La rosca de reyes. If they bite in the bread and find the mini-doll, you must host a party for the Day of Candlemas (February 2). It is not an official holiday.
February 14	Valentine's Day	Día de San Valentín	On this day, traditionally, men give chocolates, flowers, jewelry, dinner and serenade to their special women, as well as to their female friends. It is not an official holiday.
April 30	Children's Day	Día del Niño	Mexicans honoring all the children. It is not an official holiday.
May 10	Mother's Day	Día de las Madres	Mexicans honoring all the mothers throughout the country. It is not an official holiday.
May 15	Teacher's Day	Día del Maestro	Mexicans honoring all the teachers throughout the country. It is not an official holiday.
May 23	Student's Day	Día del estudiante	Mexicans honoring all the students throughout the country. It is not an official holiday.
Third Sunday of June	Father's Day	Día del Padre	Mexicans honoring all the fathers throughout the country. It is not an official holiday.
November 1	All Saints' Day (Day of the Dead)	Día de Todos los Santos	Mexicans honor their dead relatives and/or friends (who were less than 18 years of age and unmarried) with candles, food & flower offerings, altars, and pre-Hispanic and Christian rituals. It is not an official holiday.
November 2	All Souls' Day (Day of the Dead)	Dia de los Fieles Difuntos	Mexicans honor their dead relatives and/or friends (who were more than 18 years of age and married) with candles, food & flower offerings, altars, and pre-Hispanic and Christian rituals. It is not an official holiday.
December 12	Day of the Virgin of Guadalupe	Día de la Virgen de Guadalupe	Celebrates the day that Our Lady of Guadalupe appeared on Tepeyac hill to the native Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin. It is not an official holiday.
December 16-24	Las Posadas	Las Posadas	Celebrates Joseph and Mary's search for shelter in Bethlehem. Consists of candlelight processions as well as stops at various nativity scenes.
December 24	Christmas Eve	Nochebuena	Celebrates the eve of the nativity of Jesus, as secular winter holiday. The traditional treats for this holiday are buñuelos , tamales and atole or champurrado.Sometimes they eat gelatina de colores(different flavors of Jello and a milk based Jello mixed together to make a colorful treat) Las Posadas are celebrated nine days before Nochebuena, accompanied by a piñata party for the kids and dance music for the adults.
December 28	Day of the Innocents	Dia de los Santos Inocentes	On this day, people pull practical jokes on each other. It is equivalent to the U.S. version of April Fools Day (April 1). People must not believe anything that other people say, nor let them borrow any amount of money. If any person has fallen victim of the joke, the person pulling the joke will say ¡Inocente palomita...! literaty meaning Innocent little dove (equivalent to saying April Fools!).