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Public Holidays and Bank Holidays for Belize

The list of Belize bank holidays, national holidays and public holidays for 2008, comes from the Q++ Worldwide Public Holidays Database, the professional source of international public holidays long trusted by the world's foremost diary publishers. The information on this page is provided for private, non-professional, use. Qualified professionals can license data for 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, and beyond. For details, please visit our licensing information page or

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20 Nov 2008 (Belize Ministry of National Security-Belmopan) The press office of the Government of Belize has released its official list of 2009 public holidays. The announced dates are in line with those already supplied to licensees of the Q++Studio Worldwide Public Holidays Database. • 04 Jan 2008 (Government of Belize Press Office) The Government of Belize has recently amended the list of 2008 public holidays that were originally specified in the Government Gazette of May 26, 2007. • 20 Sep 2005 (Ministry of Home Affairs-Belmopan) The government of Belize has released its official list of public holidays for the year 2006. As usual some of the public holidays falling mid-week were moved to the nearest Monday, and some public holidays falling on a Sunday were moved to the following Monday. • 30 Dec 2003 (Ministry of Home Affairs-Belmopan) The government of Belize has released its official list of public holidays for the year 2004. Of particular note, the list does not allow for a day in lieu public holiday to compensate the fact that, in 2004, May 1st falls on a Saturday. • 05 Feb 2003 (Caribbean Media Corporation-Bridgetown) Belize Governor-General, Sir Colville Young, issued a proclamation dissolving the National Assembly with immediate effect, and announced that Wednesday, March 5, 2003, would be a one-off public holiday coinciding with the date of the upcoming general elections. • More News Updates For the full version of the summarized news items above, and older news items not displayed above, go to the Belize public holidays news and updates page, or worldwide public holidays news and updates page, or subscribe to one of our free email newsletters.

Governing Law: Official public holidays in Belize are regulated by Section 3 of the First and the Second Schedules to the Holidays Act, Chapter 289 of the Laws of Belize, revised Edition 2003, which includes the amendments made by the Holidays (Amendment) Act 1985 (No. 27 of 1985) which came into force on the 24th December, 1985, by virtue of statutory instrument 47 of 2000. • Weekend Public Holidays: Public holidays falling on a Sunday are usually moved to the following Monday. In some rare cases (eg. Commonwealth Day 2008) a public holiday that falls on a Saturday may be moved to the next Monday, by special decree (usually after the official list of public holidays for the current year has been released). However, the trend over the last years has been to use the discretionary powers afforded by section 9 of the Public Holidays Act, to give a Monday day in lieu when a fixed-date public holiday occurs on a Saturday. • Fixed Date Public Holidays: Some fixed-date, mid-week, public holidays are also moved to the nearest Monday, however this practice is being rethought. • Garifuna Awareness Day: November 19th has been a public holiday since 1943, first in the Stann Creek and Toledo districts. It became a countrywide public and bank holiday on November 19, 1977. • Other Sources of Information For information not covered here, see the following specialized websites: Central Bank of Belize (Belize central bank), ASI Hot Spots (security-related world events: terrorist threats, political strife, strikes, criminal activity, aviation incidents and health outbreaks), CIA World Factbook (maps, demographic and economic statistics), Copp Clark (financial markets' trading hours, settlement holidays and currency non-clearing days), and the IFES Election Guide (information covering upcoming elections, referenda, electoral structures and past voter participation).

Observance : Any entry in the Observance column indicates that, in Belize, the holiday may be regional or non-official or limited to certain religious and/or linguistic groups, or begin at a time other than midnight. Note that religious holidays are included only if they are national public holidays, or if the national labour code has specific holiday allowances for employees of specific religions. For more information, see our pages on the religious calendars of the world.

Disclaimer
In many parts of the world, holidays are subject to arbitrary, last minute, changes by local authorities. While every effort has been made to present an accurate list of 2008 bank holidays, legal holidays and public holidays for Belize, we cannot accept any responsibility for any error or omission in the data presented above. You are therefore advised to verify the above dates with the embassy or consulate of Belize, before planning any trip to Belize. For last-minute updates to worldwide public holidays, visit our blog or subscribe to our free email newsletters.