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January
Junkanoo
, a festival that begins just before
dawn on New Year’s Day, is a celebration of
African culture.
March
Commonwealth Day
is celebrated the
second Monday in March.
April
Easter
(which in some years falls in March) is
the most important religious occasion for
Bahamian Christians.
May
Whitmonday
, the day after the Christian
religious feast of Pentecost, is a traditional holiday
throughout British lands. It falls seven weeks after
Easter.
June
The first Friday in June is
Labour Day
, which
honors working men and women.
July
July 10,
Independence Day
, commemerates
the day in 1973 when the Bahamas gained
independence from Great Britain.
August
The first Monday in August is
Emancipation
Day
. It marks the freeing of all African slaves in
the Bahamas, which took place in 1834.
October
October 12,
Discovery Day
, is a celebration
of Christopher Columbus’s arrival in San Salvador
in 1492.
December
Like Christians everywhere, Bahamians cele-
brate
Christmas
on December 25.
Boxing Day
, a traditional English holiday, is
celebrated on the 26th.
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A Calendar of Bahaman Festivals