# Official holidays in Massachusetts and Puerto Rico: why so many?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/official-holidays-in-massachusetts-and-puerto-rico-why-so-many/225348
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [January 20, 2004, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/official-holidays-in-massachusetts-and-puerto-rico-why-so-many/225348 "2004-01-20T18:08:05Z")
**Posts on this page:** 4
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)
#### Post date: [January 20, 2004, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/official-holidays-in-massachusetts-and-puerto-rico-why-so-many/225348/1 "2004-01-20T18:08:05Z")
A look a Puerto Rico’s official government holiday calendar reveals something very … well, Latin. Almost every other week has a three day weekend!
Jan. 1 (2) - New Year’s Day / Closed
Jan. 6 (2) - Three Kings’ Day / Closed
Jan. 12 Eugenio María de Hostos’ Birthday (second Monday in January) / Closed
Jan. 19 - Martin Luther King’s Birthday (third Monday in January) / Closed
Feb. 16 - Presidents’ Day (third Monday in February) / Closed
March 22 - Emancipation Day / Closed
April 9 (2) - Good Friday / Closed
April 11 (2) - Easter Day / Closed
April 19 - José de Diego’s Birthday (third Monday in April) / Closed
May 9 - Mother’s Day (second Sunday in May) / Closed
May 31 - Memorial Day (last Monday in May) / Closed
June 20 (2) - Father’s Day (third Sunday in June) / Closed
July 5 - Independence Day (United States) (July 4) / Closed
July 19 - Luis Muñoz Rivera’s Birthday (third Monday in July) / Closed
July 26 - Constitution Day (Puerto Rico) (July 25) / Closed
July 27 - José Celso Barbosa’s Birthday / Closed
Sept. 6 - Labor Day (first Monday in September) / Closed
Oct. 12 - Columbus Day / Closed
Nov. 2 (2) Election Day / Closed
Nov. 11 - Veteran’s Day / Closed
Nov. 19 - Discovery of Puerto Rico Day / Closed
Nov. 25 (2) Thanksgiving Day (fourth Thursday in November) / Closed
Dec. 25 (2) Christmas Day / Closed
Massachusetts also has a bunch of official government holidays on top of the usual Christmas and Independence day; there’s Patriot’s Day, Town Meeting Day, Bunker Hill Day, Victory Day, and Evacuation Day. I’ve also heard about a bunch of other holidays that are celebrated on a county-by-county basis, to commemorate various Revolutionary War heros and battles.
Why do Massachusetts and Puerto Rico have so many civil holidays?
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### Author:  [@KarlGrenze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGrenze)
#### Post date: [January 20, 2004, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/official-holidays-in-massachusetts-and-puerto-rico-why-so-many/225348/2 "2004-01-20T19:50:30Z")
> [@elmwood](#):
>
> A look a Puerto Rico’s official government holiday calendar reveals something very … well, Latin. Almost every other week has a three day weekend!
>
> Jan. 1 (2) - New Year’s Day / Closed
> Jan. 6 (2) - Three Kings’ Day / Closed
> Jan. 12 Eugenio María de Hostos’ Birthday (second Monday in January) / Closed
> Jan. 19 - Martin Luther King’s Birthday (third Monday in January) / Closed
> Feb. 16 - Presidents’ Day (third Monday in February) / Closed
> March 22 - Emancipation Day / Closed
> April 9 (2) - Good Friday / Closed
> April 11 (2) - Easter Day / Closed
> April 19 - José de Diego’s Birthday (third Monday in April) / Closed
> May 9 - Mother’s Day (second Sunday in May) / Closed
> May 31 - Memorial Day (last Monday in May) / Closed
> June 20 (2) - Father’s Day (third Sunday in June) / Closed
> July 5 - Independence Day (United States) (July 4) / Closed
> July 19 - Luis Muñoz Rivera’s Birthday (third Monday in July) / Closed
> July 26 - Constitution Day (Puerto Rico) (July 25) / Closed
> July 27 - José Celso Barbosa’s Birthday / Closed
> Sept. 6 - Labor Day (first Monday in September) / Closed
> Oct. 12 - Columbus Day / Closed
> Nov. 2 (2) Election Day / Closed
> Nov. 11 - Veteran’s Day / Closed
> Nov. 19 - Discovery of Puerto Rico Day / Closed
> Nov. 25 (2) Thanksgiving Day (fourth Thursday in November) / Closed
> Dec. 25 (2) Christmas Day / Closed
>
> Massachusetts also has a bunch of official government holidays on top of the usual Christmas and Independence day; there’s Patriot’s Day, Town Meeting Day, Bunker Hill Day, Victory Day, and Evacuation Day. I’ve also heard about a bunch of other holidays that are celebrated on a county-by-county basis, to commemorate various Revolutionary War heros and battles.
>
> Why do Massachusetts and Puerto Rico have so many civil holidays?
As far as I know, neither Mother’s Day nor Father’s Day are holidays in the true sense of the word. You don’t get the next Monday off just because it falls on a Sunday, and everything’s open (although some places may have special hours).
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### Author:  [@paperbackwriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/paperbackwriter)
#### Post date: [January 20, 2004, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/official-holidays-in-massachusetts-and-puerto-rico-why-so-many/225348/3 "2004-01-20T23:27:04Z")
PR has a more than the “normal” share of commonwealth holidays because it’s basically got two sets: US gov’t holidays and PR gov’t holidays. I imagine that if the citizens of PR suddenly lost their minds and decided to become an independent country, a number of the US holidays (July 4, for instance) would go away. Similarly, the holidays that MA has that you mention commemorate Revolutionary history (e.g., evacuation day is the day the British abandonded Boston). State gov’t holiday only, most functions proceed normally.
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### Author:  [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)
#### Post date: [January 21, 2004, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/official-holidays-in-massachusetts-and-puerto-rico-why-so-many/225348/4 "2004-01-21T04:50:20Z")
More importantly, Evacuation Day is March 17, also known as St Patrick’s Day. Since the Italians got Columbus Day, the Irish wanted their own holiday, but the gov’t couldn’t be that blatent. At least that is what I learned growing up in Boston.
Most companies don’t get Evacuation Day or Patriot’s Day off. ED is only in Boston, the surrounding towns don’t have it off.