Site Map

Contact

Search

Home

Chile

Home
Q++ Studio
World Holidays

Downloads
References

About Us
Subscribe
Site Map
Contact
Search
News
Blog
FAQ

Public Holidays and Bank Holidays for Chile

The list of Chile 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

 © 1989-2008 Alter Ego Services

10 Dec 2008 (Cuarta Cibernetica-Santiago) A group of Chilean creative ad agencies has banded together and created a movement asking the government to declare Friday, January 2, 2009, a bridge public holiday between January 1st and the weekend. • 09 Nov 2008 (El Mercurio-Santiago) A recent article in The Economist quotes sources in the Government of Chile as saying that it was considering removing some catholic public holidays related to the Virgin Mary, such as July 16, August 15, and December 8. • 11 Oct 2008 (Diario La Tribuna-Santiago) After almost 2 years of tractations (see our post of November 10, 2006), at noon, yesterday, Chile's President, Michelle Bachelet, signed law 20.299 making October 31st a new annual public holiday to coincide with Reformation Day and to be called "Día Nacional de las Iglesias Evangélicas y Protestantes". • 20 Sep 2008 (El Mercurio-Santiago) As we announced on September 16, the bill making October 31st a new annual public holiday (día de las Iglesias Evangélicas) in Chile was approved by the Senate's Government commission, yesterday. President Bachelet, through the Presidency's Secretary General, José Antonio Viera-Gallo, has indicated that she would approve the creation of this new public holiday, but that as counterpart, she would insist that the October 12 (día de la Raza) public holiday be cancelled (as we had reported was a possibility, back on December 12, 2007). • 16 Sep 2008 (La Tercera-Santiago) A year after being voted by the lower house, the bill that would make October 31st a new annual public holiday (día de las Iglesias Evangélicas) in Chile is finally reaching the Senate floor for a vote. According to Senator Jaime Orpis, all conditions seem to be there for an approbation and signing into law of the bill, before this year's October 31st date. • 01 Sep 2008 (Terra Networks-Valparaíso) A draft law has been submitted for review to Chile's Comisión de Gobierno Interior which would make the day of the observance of the recently declared Día de la Virgen del Carmen (July 16) move to the following Monday if it occurs on mid-week weekday (as is the case for other public holidays, such as the October 12 public holiday). • 01 May 2008 (Cambio 21) Despite last summer's prolonged debate, the May 2nd día sandwich has arrived without any clear-cut decision by the government. Most schools will be off on May 2nd, most government services will be hard to reach. and as for the private sector, it seems that a sizable proportion have given Fridays, May 2nd, 2008, as a day off to their employees. • 06 Mar 2008 (NCS Internet + La Nacion) Chile will extend this year's summertime hours for another three weeks, until March 29, instead of the scheduled date of March 8. • 12 Dec 2007 (Chile.com) A bill will soon be introduced before parliament to cancel the October 12, Día de la Raza, public holiday. This idea has already received positive official comments from the president of the Comisión de Gobierno Interior, and from the Conadi indigenous associations umbrella group. • 12 Dec 2007 (Radio Cooperativa) The draft bill proposing to make December 31, 2007, a one-off public holiday is still stuck in commission, and therefore it is almost certain that Monday, December 31, 2007, will be a regular working day in Chile (although banks will have the day off, as was always the case in the past). • 18 Oct 2007 (El Mercurio) Earlier today, the Cultural Commission of the Chamber of Deputies approved a bill that would create a new annual public holiday on October 31, in honor of the Evangelical Church of Chile. • 06 Jul 2007 (El Mostrador) A bill was introduced in Chile's legislative assembly to make June 24, the indigenous Mapuche New Year, a public holiday throughout Chile. • More News Updates For the full version of the summarized news items above, and older news items not displayed above, go to the Chile public holidays news and updates page, or worldwide public holidays news and updates page, or subscribe to one of our free email newsletters.

Corpus Christi will no longer be celebrated as one of Chile's public holidays, as of 2007. It will be replaced by the fiesta de la Virgen del Carmen, to be held on the fixed date of July 16, every year (Boletines Nos 3379-06 y 3868-06, refundidos ). This was signed into law Nº 20.148, on January 6, 2007, by President Bachelet . • A law passed in mid-2006 will move some holidays if they fall on a Sunday to the following Monday. • Independence Day and Army Day: unofficially, the celebration of these 2 consecutive public holidays can last for around a week, depending on when it falls (for example, if the 18th is a Wednesday, celebrations extend from Saturday the 14th, through Sunday the 22nd). Most schools and jobs declare a week-long vacation for the holiday. • Other Sources of Information For information not covered here, see the following specialized websites: Central Bank of Chile (Chile 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 Chile, 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. Aft=Afternoon, Arm=Armenian, Bah=Bahai, Bnk=Banks and most financial institutions, Bud=Buddhist, Cat=Catholic, Chr=Christian, Cop=Coptic, Eve=Evening, Gov=Government services and civil servants, Hin=Hindu, Jew=Jewish, Lin=Linguistic or ethnic groups, Mor=Morning, Mun=Municipal, Mus=Muslim, Orth=Orthodox, Othr=Miscellaneous partial observances (usually described in the Additional Information section of this page), Prt=Protestant, Reg=Regional, Rel=Other Religion, Sch=Schools and universities, Sik=Sikh.

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 Chile, 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 Chile, before planning any trip to Chile. For last-minute updates to worldwide public holidays, visit our blog or subscribe to our free email newsletters.