Mexican Holidays Chart

[AfricanVenus]

Planning a wedding from hundreds of miles away can be stressful, we all know. We send countless emails and fail to get a timely reply. No worries, it may be because our coordinators/planners/vendors may be on a federal holiday. Vendors may neglect to tell you they have a holiday coming up because they're so used to it. We may do the same on our end. So, in an attempt to limit the frustration, I've compiled a list of holidays so that B2Bs don't get frustrated when replies are delayed. They are divided into Statutory Holidays, Civic Holidays, and Festivals. Also keep in mind that certain states, and cities within them, have their own local holidays.

 

Statutory Holidays: Workers entitled to a day off

 

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. Observance: First Monday of February.
March 21	Benito Juárez's birthday	Natalicio de Benito Juárez	Commemorates President Benito Juárez's birthday. Observance: Third Monday of March
May 1	Labor day	Día del Trabajo	Commemorates the Mexican workers' union movements
September 16	Independence Day	Día de la Independencia	Commemorates the start of the Independence War.
November 20	Revolution day	Día de la Revolución	Commemorates the start of the Mexican Revolution. 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 and religious holiday.

 

Civic Holidays: observed nationwide, but workers aren't entitled 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").
February 24	Flag Day	Día de la Bandera	Celebrates the current Flag of Mexico and honors the previous ones.
March 18	Anniversary of the Oil Expropriation	Aniversario de la Expropiación petrolera	Celebrates the Oil Expropriation.
April 21	Heroic Defense of Veracruz	Heroica Defensa de Veracruz	Commemorates the defense against 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.
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.
September 27	End of Independence War	Consumación de la Independencia	Celebrates the end of the Mexican Independence War on 1821.
September 30	Morelos' birthday	Natalicio de José Ma. Morelos y Pavón	Commemorates the birth of one of the founding fathers of the Mexican nation.
October 12	Columbus Day	Descubrimiento de América	Commemorates the Discovery of the Americas in 1492 by the Italian navigator Christopher Columbus.

 

Festivals: Similar to our Mother's Day and Valentine's Day; also many religious holidays

 

Date	English Name	Spanish Name	Remarks
January 6	Epiphany	Día de los Santos Reyes	Celebrates the Biblical New Testament story of the arrival of the three wise men.
February 14	Valentine's Day	Día de San Valentín	Celebrates amorous unions.
April 30	Children's Day	Día del Niño	Honors all the children.
May 10	Mother's Day	Día de las Madres	Honors all the mothers throughout the country.
May 15	Teacher's Day	Día del Maestro	Honors all the teachers throughout the country.
May 23	Student's Day	Día del estudiante	Honors all the students throughout the country.
Third Sunday of June	Father's Day	Día del Padre	Honors all the fathers throughout the country.
November 1	All Saints' Day (Day of the Dead)	Día de Todos los Santos	Honors dead relatives and/or friends (who were less than 18 years of age and unmarried).
November 2	All Souls' Day (Day of the Dead)	Día de los Fieles Difuntos	Honors dead relatives and/or friends (who were more than 18 years of age or married). It is not a state 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 a state holiday.
December 16–24	Las Posadas	Las Posadas	Commemorates the Biblical New Testament story of Joseph and Mary's search for shelter in Bethlehem.
December 24	Christmas Eve	Nochebuena	Celebrates the eve of the nativity of Jesus
December 28	Day of the Innocents	Dia de los Santos Innocentes	On this day, people pull practical jokes on each other. It is equivalent to the U.S. version of April Fools' Day (April 1).
December 31	New Year's Eve	Año Nuevo Vìspera	Mexicans celebrate New Year's Eve

 

Jalisco Holidays: http://www.costalegre.ca/holidays_Festivals.htm

 

 

[Sharon99]

This is good to know, thanks for the info!!

[JayKay]

This is so helpful! Thanks for sharing!

[jamieirene]

Thank goodness no holidays during my entire weddding week! Thanks for sharing!

[AfricanVenus]

Whatever it takes to make wedding planning easier!

[Maritza919]

That's so helpful thank you!

[bestw]

Thanks! You were very helpful!

[FutureMrsF]

Incredibly helpful. Need to bookmark this so I can figure out why my WC isn't responding. Also helpful when choosing a date.

[Henryka]

Thanks for sharing worthy info..

[sunnymylene]

I never thought of the stat holidays...it turns out that during my wedding week, it seems that only symbolic ceremonies will be performed ? I can't move my week anymore. So that leaves me with having a symbolic one. Or arriving in 4 days before my resort week starts. Or getting the legal ceremony done here prior to our wedding. Our relationship anniversary is on the 17 of May... that would be a fantastic day. What do you girls think ? should I be bothered by this, being a symbolic ceremony ???