This is a list of public holidays (national or otherwise) in Chile; about half of them are

Christian holiday The liturgical year, also called the church year, Christian year or kalendar, consists of the cycle of liturgical seasons in Christian churches that determines when feast days, including celebrations of saints, are to be observed, and which ...

Dates for the year 2023

History

On January 28, 1915,

President of Chile The president of Chile ( es, Presidente de Chile), officially known as the President of the Republic of Chile ( es, Presidente de la República de Chile), is the head of state and head of government of the Republic of Chile. The president is re ...

Ramón Barros Luco Ramón Barros Luco (; June 9, 1835 – September 20, 1919) was President of Chile between 1910 and 1915. Barros Luco was born in 1835 in Santiago, Barros Luco was son of Ramón Luis Barros Fernández and Dolores Luco Fernández de Leiva. He grad ...

promulgated law 2,977, which arranged all the information insofar about holidays celebrated in Chile. It established or kept the following holidays: #Sundays year-round. #January 1 (

Feast of the Circumcision of Christ The Feast of the Circumcision of Christ is a Christian celebration of the circumcision of Jesus in accordance with Jewish tradition, eight days (according to the Semitic and southern European calculation of intervals of days) after his birth, the ...

at the time;

New Year New Year is the time or day currently at which a new calendar year begins and the calendar's year count increments by one. Many cultures celebrate the event in some manner. In the Gregorian calendar, the most widely used calendar system to ...

in the late 20th and 21st centuries), June 29 (

Saint Peter and Saint Paul ''Saint Peter and Saint Paul'' is a painting by the Cretan-Spanish artist El Greco. The work was completed between 1590 and 1600. It is currently on display at the Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya, who purchased the work in 1932. Description ...

), August 15 (

Assumption of Mary The Assumption of Mary is one of the four Marian dogmas of the Catholic Church. Pope Pius XII defined it in 1950 in his apostolic constitution ''Munificentissimus Deus'' as follows: We proclaim and define it to be a dogma revealed by Go ...

), December 8 (

Immaculate Conception The Immaculate Conception is the belief that the Virgin Mary was free of original sin from the moment of her conception. It is one of the four Marian dogmas of the Catholic Church, meaning that it is held to be a divinely revealed truth w ...

), December 25 (

Christmas Day Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A feast central to the Christian liturgical year, ...

), and the floating holidays of the

Ascension of Jesus Christ The Ascension of Jesus (anglicized from the Vulgate la, ascensio Iesu, lit=ascent of Jesus) is the Christian teaching that Christ physically departed from Earth by rising to Heaven, in the presence of eleven of his apostles. According to the N ...

and Corpus Christi. #Fridays and Saturdays during

Holy Week Holy Week ( la, Hebdomada Sancta or , ; grc, Ἁγία καὶ Μεγάλη Ἑβδομάς, translit=Hagia kai Megale Hebdomas, lit=Holy and Great Week) is the most sacred week in the liturgical year in Christianity. In Eastern Churches, w ...

. #September 18, Establishment of the First Government Junta in 1810. #September 19 and May 21, in celebration of the glories of the Army and the Navy. #The day of election of electors of the President of the Republic. The same law abolished, by omission, four religious holidays:

Epiphany Epiphany may refer to: * Epiphany (feeling), an experience of sudden and striking insight Religion * Epiphany (holiday), a Christian holiday celebrating the revelation of God the Son as a human being in Jesus Christ ** Epiphany season, or Epiph ...

("Adoración de los Santos Reyes", January 6),

Carnival Carnival is a Catholic Christian festive season that occurs before the liturgical season of Lent. The main events typically occur during February or early March, during the period historically known as Shrovetide (or Pre-Lent). Carnival typi ...

("Carnaval", mobile),

Annunciation The Annunciation (from Latin '), also referred to as the Annunciation to the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Annunciation of Our Lady, or the Annunciation of the Lord, is the Christian celebration of the biblical tale of the announcement by the ange ...

("Anunciación del Señor", march 25) and Nativity of the Virgin Mary ("Natividad de la Virgen", September 8). It also shortened the national independence holiday to two days (until 1914, they occupied September 18, 19 and 20). On November 14, 1921, President

Arturo Alessandri Palma Arturo Fortunato Alessandri Palma (; December 20, 1868 – August 24, 1950) was a Chilean political figure and reformer who served thrice as president of Chile, first from 1920 to 1924, then from March to October 1925, and finally from 1932 to 1 ...

promulgated Law 3,810, marking October 12 (

Columbus Day Columbus Day is a national holiday in many countries of the Americas and elsewhere, and a federal holiday in the United States, which officially celebrates the anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the Americas on October 12, 1492. ...

) as holiday. On April 30, 1931, President

Carlos Ibáñez del Campo General Carlos Ibáñez del Campo (; 3 November 1877 – 28 April 1960) was a Chilean Army officer and political figure. He served as President twice, first between 1927 and 1931, and then from 1952 to 1958, serving for 10 years in office. T ...

promulgated the "Decree Enforceable as Law" ("Decreto con Fuerza de Ley") 130, marking May 1 (

May Day May Day is a European festival of ancient origins marking the beginning of summer, usually celebrated on 1 May, around halfway between the spring equinox and summer solstice. Festivities may also be held the night before, known as May Eve. T ...

) as holiday. In 1932, Provisional President

Bartolomé Blanche Bartolomé Guillermo Blanche Espejo (June 6, 1879 – June 10, 1970) was a Chilean military officer and provisional president of Chile in 1932. Life He was born in La Serena, Coquimbo Region, where he completed his early studies. Later, he was ...

reinstated the September 20 holiday, which existed until 1944. In 1968, the holidays of

and Corpus Christi were eliminated by Article 144 of Law 16,840. The Catholic Church agreed to celebrate them on the nearest Sunday. September 11 (the day of the military coup in 1973) was established as a holiday (''Día de la Liberación Nacional'', "Day of National Liberation") by the military regime in 1981. In 1998 it was replaced by the ''Día de la Unidad Nacional'' ("Day of National Unity"), to be observed the first Monday in September. In March 2002 the latter was abolished. The holiday on June 29 (

) was reestablished in September 1985. In 1987, during a visit by

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

, Corpus Christi was reestablished (although the Church continued to observe the holiday on the nearest Sunday). On March 10, 2000, Law 19,668 moved the

and Corpus Christi holidays to the preceding Monday, if they were to fall on a Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday, or to the following Monday, if they were to fall on a Friday. Additionally, the designation of

was changed from ''Aniversario del Descubrimiento de América'' to ''Día del Descubrimiento de Dos Mundos'' ("Discovery of Two Worlds' Day"), an obvious corruption from the then-recent ubiquitous "Encuentro de dos mundos" ("The Meeting of Two Worlds") slogan. On January 6, 2007, Law 20,148 replaced Corpus Christi with

Our Lady of Mount Carmel Our Lady of Mount Carmel, or Virgin of Carmel, is the title given to the Blessed Virgin Mary in her role as patroness of the Carmelite Order, particularly within the Catholic Church. The first Carmelites were Christian hermits living on Mount Ca ...

, to be observed July 16, starting that year. On September 14, 2007, Law 20,215. declared holidays all September 17s falling on a Monday and all September 20s falling on a Friday. On October 11, 2008, Law 20,299 established

Reformation Day Reformation Day is a Protestant Christian religious holiday celebrated on 31 October, alongside All Hallows' Eve (Halloween) during the triduum of Allhallowtide, in remembrance of the onset of the Reformation. According to Philip Melanchtho ...

on October 31 as a national holiday, starting that year. This holiday is moved to the preceding Friday if it falls on a Tuesday, or to the following Friday if it falls on a Wednesday. On April 30, 2013, Law 20,663 established the regional

Battle of Arica The Battle of Arica, also known as ''Assault and Capture of Cape Arica'', was a battle in the War of the Pacific. It was fought on 7 June 1880, between the forces of Chile and Peru. After the Battle of Tacna and the following Bolivian withdra ...

holiday, to be observed only in the Arica and Parinacota region. On December 30, 2016, Law 20,983 declared as holidays those days that are Monday January 2 or Friday September 17. On June 19, 2021, Law 21,357 declared the Winter Solstice as a holiday, honoring Chile's aboriginal peoples ("pueblos originarios"). Besides yearly holidays, since 1901 presidential elections are declared holidays, as mandated by successive versions of the General Elections law (Law 18,700 being the current one; see laws 1,464, 1,752, 2,977, decree-law 542, 6,250, 6,834, 9,334 and 12,891). Since the late 20th century, parliamentary and municipal elections are also public holidays (see Law 18,700). Censuses, held every ten years, are also declared holidays since 1982; that year's census and 1992's were so due to ad-hoc laws; censuses taken from 1992 onwards are declared holidays due to a reform in the Census law. (This did not occur in 2012, where the census was carried out in the space of two months, using a different methodology.)

Meaning of the January 1 holiday

Shortly after Chile's independence, an 1824 (government-approved) Church decree reduced the amount of religious holidays, enumerating and the surviving holidays, including the

, observed on January 1. Law 2,977 (passed in 1915, still in vigour) lists this holiday by date only, without using any name, but does treat it as religious one. However, nowadays (as of 2009) it's widely celebrated as the (civic) New Year holiday. As a matter of fact, there aren't any known regulations later than 1915 that use the "Circumcision of Christ" name, while "New Year" is used by numerous regulations of all types (laws (19.925), decree-laws (''decretos ley'') (1.299, 1.613 and 2,408), decrees enforceable as law (''decretos con fuerza de ley'') (D.F.L 338 of 1960),

ministerial decree A ministerial decree or ministerial order is a decree by a ministry. With a ministerial decree the administrative department is delegated the task to impose a formal judgement or mandate. Ministerial decrees are usually imposed under the authority ...

s and resolutions (decree 6234 of 1929 of the Public Education Ministry (the oldest such regulation), decree 83 of 1985 of the Labor Ministry, decree 48 of 2007 of the Labor Ministry, et cetera) and municipal decrees and ordinances (decree 1316 of 2004 of the Las Condes Municipality, decree 23 of 2006 of the Padre Las Casas Municipality, decree 23 of 2009 of the San Carlos Municipality, et cetera).

Notes

References

Días Feriados en Chile
(in Spanish)
Compilation of holiday-related laws
(in Spanish)

(in Spanish)

External links

Chilean calendar with holidays
(in Spanish)
Online laws at the Chilean National Congress' Library
(in Spanish) {{DEFAULTSORT:Public Holidays In Chile

Holidays A holiday is a day set aside by Norm (social), custom or by law on which normal activities, especially business or work including school, are suspended or reduced. Generally, holidays are intended to allow individuals to celebrate or commemorate ...

Chilean culture Society of Chile Latin American culture

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...