Festivals & Holidays in El Salvador

Date	Name	Comments
March/April	Easter	Celebrated by the large Catholic population in carnival-like events in various cities.
1 May	Labour Day	International Labour Day
10 May	Mother’s Day
From 1 to 7 August	August Carnival	A week-long festival in honour of El Salvador del Mundo, the patron saint of El Salvador.
September 15	Independence Day	Celebration of independence from Spain, achieved in 1821.
12 October	Columbus Day	This day commemorates the arrival of Europeans in the Americas.
2 November	Day of the Dead	A day when people usually visit the graves of their deceased loved ones.
November (last week)	San Miguel Carnival	A week of carnival in San Miguel
25 December	Christmas Day	Salvadorans stay up until midnight on 24 December to welcome Christmas with a huge “arsenal” of fireworks.
31 December	New Year’s Eve	Salvadorans stay awake until midnight on 31 December to welcome the New Year in the same way they do Christmas (you can hear the deafening sound of fireworks throughout the country on both days).