Errol Barrow Day is a Barbadian

public holiday A public holiday, national holiday, or legal holiday is a holiday generally established by law and is usually a non-working day during the year. Sovereign nations and territories observe holidays based on events of significance to their history ...

celebrated on 21 January, to commemorate

Errol Barrow Errol Walton Barrow (21 January 1920 – 1 June 1987) was a Barbadian statesman and the first prime minister of Barbados. Born into a family of political and civic activists in the parish of Saint Lucy, he became a WWII aviator, combat ve ...

, the former

Prime Minister of Barbados The prime minister of Barbados is the head of government of Barbados. The prime minister is appointed by the president under the terms of the Constitution. As the nominal holder of executive authority, the president holds responsibility for co ...

, who helped lead his country to

independence Independence is a condition of a person, nation, country, or state in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the statu ...

from the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. The date is the second public holiday of the calendar year and is the date of birth for the former leader. Errol Barrow died suddenly in 1987, and in 1989 his birthday was declared as the first public holiday to honor him. On that date, his portrait was placed on the new Barbadian dollar note and the middle section of the Airport-West Coast Highway was officially named after him. Subsequently, he was further declared as one of Barbados' original National Heroes in 1998.

Tradition

As a

, much of the businesses in the country are closed on this day.

Notes

Errol Barrow Park

References

{{reflist Public holidays in Barbados January observances