Virgin Islands Calendar: Public Holidays & Events
The Virgin Islands celebrates a variety of holidays, some traditional and some particular to the Territory’s culture and history. Learn more about the BVI’s coming year’s holidays, the dates celebrated and explanations of the ones unique to these islands.
Saturday, 2-4 March 2024
Dark & Stormy Race, West End Yacht Club
Monday, 4 March 2024
Anniversary of the Birth Of H. Lavity Stoutt.
The day honors Hamilton Lavity Stoutt, the first and longest serving Chief Minister of the Virgin Islands,
Friday, 29 March 2024
Good Friday, Public Holiday
Monday, April 1, 2024
Easter Monday, Public Holiday
Monday, 1 April to Sunday 7 April, 2024
BVI Spring Regatta & Sailing Festival
Monday, 20 May 2024: Public Holiday
Whit Monday
The holiday marks the end of the Easter Cycle.
Friday, 14 June 2024
The Sovereign’s Birthday
This day is marked with a parade in Road Town featuring firemen, police, boy scout and girl guide troops and other community organizations. Traditionally, a garden party hosted by the Governor and his wife is held at the Governor’s residence.
Monday, 1 July 2024: Public Holiday
Virgin Islands Day
Formerly known as Territory Day, Virgin Islands Day reflects a renewed sense of national consciousness and represents an effort to assert the unique identity of Virgin Islanders.
Monday, 5 August – Wednesday, 7 August 2024: Public Holiday
The August Emancipation Festival
These three days mark the Virgin Islands’ August Festival which commemorates the reading of the Emancipation Proclamation in Road Town on Monday, August 1st, 1834. Today the day is celebrated with parades, tramps, beauty pageants, horse races and other traditional activities.
Monday, 21 October 2024: Public Holiday
Heroes and Foreparents Day
Heroes and Forefathers Day honors pioneers and outstanding community members in fisheries and agriculture, boat building, health, business, politics, public administration, the arts and religion. The holiday recognizes the men and women who created the Virgin Islands we know today.
Monday, 25 November 2024: Public Holiday
The 1949 Great March and Restoration Day
This holiday commemorates the historic demonstration on Sunday, 24th November 1949 led by Theodolph Faulkner, Isaac “Glanny” Fonseca, Carlton deCastro, and over 1,500 Virgin Islanders who marched through the streets of Road Town to the Commissioner’s Office (today known as the Governor’s Office) in protest of issues significantly affecting the quality of the lives of Virgin Islanders. The demonstrators presented the Commissioner with a petition that highlighted their grievances with the political system, which was administered from Antigua at the time. The demonstration served as a catalyst for political development in the Territory, leading to the restoration of the Legislative Council and the evolution of a modern Virgin Islands.
Tuesday, 25 December 2023: Public Holiday
Christmas Day
Wednesday, 26 December 2024: Public Holiday
Boxing Day
A public holiday in the UK and many of its Territories, Boxing Day’s roots are said to go back to a time when the rich boxed up gifts to give to the poor, which were then distributed the day after Christmas. Churches are also said to have played a role in the creation of Boxing Day. Throughout the year, many churches collected money for the poor. The funds were stored in a box which was opened on Christmas Day and handed out to the poor the next day.
Wednesday, January 1, 2025
New Years Day: Public Holiday
The day honors Hamilton Lavity Stoutt, the first and longest serving Chief Minister of the Virgin Islands, who won five general elections between 1967 and 1991 and served three non-consecutive terms of office from 1967 to 1971, again from 1981 to 1983 and again from 1986 until his death in 1995. He also served as a parliamentarian in the Legislative Council prior to the adoption of the 1967 constitution. The Virgin Islands’ Community College is named after him.
