Festivals & Holidays
1. New Year’s Day
Dominicans welcome the New Year with an exuberant open-air concert at different locations in Santo Domingo, at which some of the country’s top bands perform. Other towns and villages hold smaller-scale but equally loud outdoor fiestas.
2. Three Kings’ Day
The big present-giving day is a crucial part of the extended Christmas–New Year holiday season. In San Pedro de Macorís, some of the town’s millionaire baseball stars traditionally hand out bats, balls, and gloves to kids.
Jan 6
3. Virgen de Altagracia
The annual pilgrimage to the modern concrete basilica of Higüey brings thousands of Dominicans together in prayer to the nation’s patron saint, followed by a long party. Services and vigils are held across the country, but the Higüey gathering is the most impressive expression of an African-influenced Catholic faith.Jan 21
4. Carnival
Every Dominican village, town, and city organizes some sort of sort of event every Sunday in February. La Vega is famous for its devil-like Carnival masks, while the northern city of Monte Cristi witnesses boisterous street battles. The Carnival period reaches an earsplitting climax in Santo Domingo with a parade of costumes and bands along the Malecón.Sundays in Feb
5. Independence Day
This marks the anniversary of the country’s independence from Haitian occupation on 27 February 1844. It is celebrated with a military parade along the Malecón.Feb 27
6. Holy Week
Semana Santa is the year’s most important religious period, and all activity grinds to a halt as Dominicans go to church or parties or both. The Catholic celebrations are paralleled by the Haitian community’s African-influenced gagá ceremonies, which take place near the border and in sugar plantations.Mid-Apr
7. Merengue Festival
The latter part of the month witnesses a spectacular showcase of Dominican musical talent, as the seafront Malecón in Santo Domingo hosts a series of concerts.July
8. Restoration Day
The grandiose Monumento a los Héroes de la Restauración is the scene of a huge party to commemorate the country’s “second independence” from Spain in 1865 after a guerrilla struggle that started in Santiago. Another celebration, with plenty of music, takes place in Santo Domingo’s beautiful Plaza España.Aug 16
9. Merengue Festival
In the third week in September, the northern port of Puerto Plata hosts a week-long celebration of merengue talent. Most of the action takes place on the long and normally quiet Malecón, but at this time of year the place comes to life, with bands performing and countless outdoor bars.Sep
10. All Saints
Both Catholics and followers of vodu celebrate the Day of the Dead, when, as elsewhere in Latin America and the Caribbean, families visit cemeteries to commune with the deceased, and take small offerings such as flowers and food. This ritual is taken most seriously in the areas near the Haitian border.Nov 1
