When is Bermuda Day?
Bermuda Day is a public holiday on the Friday before the last Monday in May. It is Bermuda's National Day and is a day to celebrate the unique cultural heritage of the islands.
Legislation, which was tabled in January 2020, moved the Bermuda Day holiday from the last Friday in May to the Friday before the final Monday of May.
Prior to 2017, Bermuda Day was observed on May 24th. The date was switched in 2017 in a bid to cut absenteeism when the public holiday fell before a weekday.
It was brought forward a week in 2019 to keep it closer to the United States Memorial Day holiday, an opportune long weekend for the island to court tourists.
History of Bermuda Day
Bermuda is a British Overseas Territory located in the North Atlantic Ocean. The islands are named after the Spanish captain Juan de Bermúdez, who claimed the islands for Spain while travelling to the Americas in 1505.
Bermuda Day is seen as an important date in the Bermudan calendar not only as an opportunity to celebrate the islands but also the position of the holiday at the end of May is used to signify the arrival of summer when it is warm enough to consider swimming in the ocean after winter and for the famous Bermuda shorts to be worn as business attire instead of trousers.
A short history of Bermuda Shorts
This style of shorts was used by the British Army in tropical regions. After the Second World War, there was a shortage of cloth in Bermuda, so to ensure their staff could be dressed properly, the owners of two banks arranged for a local tailor to make pairs of shorts, modeled on those used by the British military.
This public holiday began in 1902 as Empire Day, a day that was decreed across the British Empire to commemorate the death of Queen Victoria on May 24th, her birth date. Canada still observes this as Victoria Day and Belize observes it as Sovereign Day.
Due to the number of countries who gained independence from Britain, the holiday was renamed Commonwealth Day in 1958.
The holiday was first named as Bermuda Day in 1979. and until 2018, it was celebrated on May 24th or the following Monday if May 24th fell on a weekend. The change means that Bermuda Day will always create a long weekend, called Bermuda Day Weekend, which will be an opportunity to showcase Bermuda's culture and heritage to locals and visitors. Bermuda Day always takes place in Heritage Month.
To mark the day, a Bermuda Day Parade has been held in Hamilton every year since 1979. There are also sporting events such as the Bermuda Day Half Marathon and a cricket match between the two parts of the island.
The 2018 Bermuda Day Parade
From the Royal Gazette
