Bahamas Calendar
January: New Years' Day (Jan 1) is a public holiday.
April: Good Friday (1st Friday in April) and Easter Monday (Monday following Easter) are public holidays.
May: Whitmonday. This public holiday follows Whitsunday (also known as Pentecost), the seventh Sunday after Easter.
June: Labor Day (June 1) is a public holiday.
July: Independence Day (July 10) is a public holiday that celebrates the Bahamas' independence from Britain. Parades and fireworks.
August: Emancipation Day, the first Monday in August, commemorates the end of slavery in the Bahamas in 1834.
September: Annual Bahamas Jazz Festival - an international event held the first week in September.
October: Discovery Day (Oct 12) is a public holiday celebrating Christopher Columbus' first landing in the Bahamas.
November: Guy Fawkes Festival (Nov 10) is celebrated on Eleuthera in honor of the capture of Guy Fawkes, who attempted to blow up the Houses of Parliament in England in 1605.
Central Banks Art Exhibition and Competition (Nov 16) is a national competition for artists under 26 years old, who showcase their works in a variety of media.
December: Christmas Day is a public holiday.
Boxing Day/Junkanoo Parade (Dec 26): The biggest public celebration on the islands, especially in Nassau. This is a traditional British holiday, when the wealthy boxed their Christmas dinner leftovers and presented them to their servants.