vary with local observance. Strictly speaking, the United States does not have national holidays. The Federal Government recognizes ten annual and one quadrennial holiday for its employees. The annual Federal Holiday s are widely observed by state and local governments, however they may alter the dates of observance or add or subtract holidays according to local custom. Pursuant to the Uniform Holidays Bill of 1968 (taking effect in 1971), most official holidays are observed on the Monday closest to the actual date of the holiday, except for New Year's Day , Independence Day , Veterans Day , American Thanksgiving , and Christmas . There are also U.S. State Holiday s particular to individual U.S. State s.
In the U.S., most retailers also close on Thanksgiving and Christmas, while they are open all other holidays. Larger private businesses tend to observe most of the ten federal holidays, and the day after Thanksgiving. Smaller businesses often observe only the "big six" holidays (New Year's Day, Memorial Day , Independence Day, Labor Day , Thanksgiving , and Christmas ).
Most American in the USA), while in the US, it's on the fourth Thursday in November.
New Year's Day celebration begins the night before, when Americans gather to wish each other a happy and prosperous coming year.
The ''holiday season'', commonly said to run between Thanksgiving and New Year's Day and often encompassing Christmas , Hanukkah , and Kwanzaa is generally celebrated as a nonsectarian winter holiday.
Many observances and special days are declared by the President . See List Of Observances In The United States By Presidential Proclamation .
There are many Annual Observances In The United States (some of which are listed below) that are not celebrated by the rest of the world.
See Also: Federal holidays
Federal Holiday s are designated by Congress in Title V of the United States Code (). {Link without Title} If a holiday falls on a Saturday it is celebrated the preceding Friday; if a holiday falls on a Sunday it is celebrated the following Monday.
In addition to the official holidays, many religious, ethnic, and other traditional holidays populate the calendar, as well as observances proclaimed by officials and lighter celebrations. These are rarely observed by businesses as holidays; indeed, many are viewed as opportunities for commercial promotion. Because of this commercialization, some critics apply the depreciative term ''Hallmark holiday'' to such days, after the Hallmark Greeting Card company.
- , anniversary of transfer to U.S. control, October 18
- , anniversary of purchase from Russia, March 27
- , February 16 , observed with Washington's Birthday
- 's birthday, March 31 ; also may be optionally observed in Colorado and Texas
- , April 16
- , April 2
- , date varies
- , June 11
- , March 26
- or Statehood Day, third Friday in August , August 18 in 2006
- , January 19
- 's Birthday, February 12 (most state offices close, many schools choose to close on President's Day)
- , date varies, celebrated elsewhere
- , April 19 , anniversary of Battle Of Lexington And Concord
- , April 19 , anniversary of Battle Of Lexington And Concord
- , March 25 , commemoration of first European settlement of Maryland
- , date varies
- , May 9
- , last Friday of April, celebrated elsewhere
- , January 19
- , October 31
- or Victory Day , second Monday in August
- Tennessee : Good Friday, date varies
- Tennessee: Abraham Lincoln Day, February 12
- Tennessee: Andrew Jackson Day, March 15
- Tennessee: Statehoood Day, June 1 , commemorates date of admission to the Union
- , January 19
- , July 24
- , Friday Before The Third Monday In January
- , June 20
See Also: Holidays in Puerto Rico
- (In Spanish : ''25 de Julio'', ''Conmemoración del ELA'', or ''Conmemoración del Estado Libre Asociado'')
May or may not be legal holidays, depending on state law.
- Confederate Memorial Day , usually last Monday of April
- --- Alabama , legal holiday
- --- Florida , April 26 , legal holiday {Link without Title}
- --- Georgia , legal holiday
- --- Mississippi , legal holiday
- --- South Carolina , May 10
- --- Tennessee , June 3
- Jefferson Davis ' Birthday
- --- Alabama, June 7
- --- Florida, June 3 legal holiday
- Robert E. Lee 's Birthday (often observed with MLK Day on January 19 )
See Also: Lee-Jackson-King day
- --- Arkansas , January 19, observed with MLK Day
- --- Florida , January 19 , legal holiday
- ---Georgia, January 19, may be celebrated other days (Friday after Thanksgiving, for example)
- --- Mississippi, January 19, legal holiday
- --- Tennessee, January 19
- Nathan Bedford Forrest Day
- --- Tennessee, July 13
- Mardi Gras , held the day before Ash Wednesday .
- --- Florida , legal holiday in counties where carnival associations are organized for the purpose of celebrating the same. {Link without Title}
- --- Louisiana , legal holiday
- --- Mississippi , legal holiday
- --- Alabama , legal holiday
- Bunker Hill Day , June 17 ( Suffolk County, Massachusetts )
- Casimir Pulaski Day (primarily Chicago , Illinois , first Monday in March)
- Day Of The Dead ( November 1 , sometimes celebrated in areas with large Mexican-American populations; see Cinco De Mayo )
- Devil's Night (primarily Michigan , October 30 )
- Evacuation Day , March 17 ( Suffolk County and Cambridge, Massachusetts ; same as St. Patrick's Day )
- Father Damien Day ( Hawaii ), April 15
- Indigenous Peoples Day , Berkeley, California , celebrated in lieu of Columbus Day
- Loyalty Day (domestic counterweight to May Day )
- Meck-Dec Day , ( Charlotte and Mecklenburg County , North Carolina ), ( May 20 ), celebrates the signing of the Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence.
- Midsummer (celebrated in Minnesota and other Scandinavian-American areas)
- Return Day , ( November 4 , after noon in Sussex County, Delaware ; population meets to hear election returns, party)
- Sweetest Day (celebrated on third Saturday in October in Illinois , Michigan , Ohio and Wisconsin , involves giving small presents to family, friends and lovers
- Von Steuben Day , (mid-September, celebrated primarily by German American s)
- Super Tuesday (political event, variable)
- Super Bowl Sunday (sports event; originally the last Sunday in January, it has now moved to the first Sunday in February)
- Tax Freedom Day (day in which an average citizen is said to have worked enough to pay his or her Tax es for the year, used by opponents of taxation)
- Tax Day (federal and state tax deadline, April 15 or if on weekend or holiday, next closest Monday)
- Oktoberfest (celebrated most often in areas with contemporary or historic populations of German heritage)
- season)
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