In the U.S., most retailers are closed on Thanksgiving and Christmas, while they are open all other holidays. Private businesses often observe only the "big six" holidays (New Year's Day, Memorial Day , Independence Day, Labor Day , Thanksgiving , and Christmas ). Some might also add the Friday after Thanksgiving, or one or more of the other federal holidays.
Most American and New Year's Day . For Thanksgiving in the United States, it is on The Fourth Thursday In November .
The ''holiday season'' in the winter is commonly said to run between Thanksgiving and New Year's Day , which encompasses the Winter Solstice , Christmas , Hanukkah , and Kwanzaa .
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. Most, but not all states, and most, but not all private businesses also observe a Sunday holiday on the following Monday. It is less common, however, for a state or private business to observe a Saturday holiday on the preceding Friday. Some states and private businesses may observe it then, a few might observe it on Monday, and some might not observe the holiday at all in those years. In particular, banks that close on Saturdays do not observe a holiday when it falls on Saturday.
Federal observances differ from Federal holidays in that Federal employees only receive a day free from work on holidays, not observances. Federal observances that are designated by Congress appear in Title 36 of the United States Code ( et seq.). Below is a list of all observances so designated. Note that not all of the below laws requires that the observance be declared, in some cases, such as , Congress simply requested the President to issue a proclamation of the observance.
The President may also declare Federal observances by presidential proclamation. Those observances are listed at the List Of Observances In The United States By Presidential Proclamation .
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 deprecatory term '' Hallmark Holiday '' to such days, after the Hallmark Greeting Card company.
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- , anniversary of transfer to U.S. control, October 18
- Alaska: Seward's Day , 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
- August 1, 1876 Colorado became a state. This date is recognized/celebrated each year by state "Native" residents.
- , February 12
- Connecticut: Good Friday , date varies
- , April 16
- , April 2
- , date varies
- Hawaii: Kamehameha Day , June 11
- Hawaii: Prince Jonah Kuhio Kalanianaole Day , March 26
- Hawaii: Admission Day 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)
- , January 29
- , date varies
- Louisiana: Good Friday , date varies, celebrated elsewhere
- , April 19 , anniversary of Battles Of Lexington And Concord
- , April 19 , anniversary of Battles Of Lexington And Concord
- , March 25 , commemoration of first European settlement of Maryland
- , date varies
- , May 9
- , last Friday of April, celebrated elsewhere
- , October 31 , commemorates date of admission to the Union, observed on last Friday of October.
- , January 19
- , November 16
- 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
- , June 19
- , July 24
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- , 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 , fourth Monday in April, legal holidayhttp://www.legislature.state.al.us/codeofalabama/1975/1-3-8.htm
- --- Florida , April 26 , legal holiday {Link without Title}
- --- Georgia , legal holiday
- --- Mississippi , legal holiday
- --- South Carolina , May 10 , legal holiday (SC Code § 53-5-10) {Link without Title}
- --- Tennessee , June 3
- Jefferson Davis ' Birthday
- --- Alabama, first Monday in June, legal holidayhttp://www.legislature.state.al.us/codeofalabama/1975/1-3-8.htm
- --- Florida, June 3 legal holiday
- Robert E. Lee 's Birthday (often observed with MLK Day on January 19 )
See Also: Lee-Jackson-King day
- --- Alabama, observed with MLK Day, legal holidayhttp://www.legislature.state.al.us/codeofalabama/1975/1-3-8.htm
- --- 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 only in Baldwin and Mobile Countieshttp://www.legislature.state.al.us/codeofalabama/1975/1-3-8.htm
- Bunker Hill Day , June 17 ( Suffolk County, Massachusetts )
- Brooklyn-Queens Day , ( New York City , NY ), first Thursday in June
- 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 date 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)
- Woolseymas , ( December 6 ) A commemoration of the 1933 decision by US District Court Judge John M Woolsey that the James Joyce novel " Ulysses " was not pornographic and therefore could not be obscene.
- 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)
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 above) that are not celebrated by the rest of the world.
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