The Dom Rep has a bewildering barrage of festivals . On every day of the year, there seems to be some kind of celebration somewhere, the majority of which are regional fiestas patronales , held in honour of the city's or town's patron saint. These traditional fiestas are one of the great pleasures of a trip to the DR.

JANUARY

Virgen de Altagracia
January 21, the most important religious day in the Dominican calendar, including a several-day pilgrimage to Higuey.

Duarte Day
Holiday in honour of the Father of the Country, with public fiestas in all major towns on January 26.

FEBRUARY

Carnival
The pre-eminent celebration of the year, held on every Sunday in February and culminating on February 27. The biggest festival is in La Vega, with Santo Domingo a close second.

Independence Day
Celebration of independence from Haiti and the culmination of the Dominican Carnival (Feb 27). The place to be is Santo Domingo.

APRIL

Semana Santa
The Christian Holy Week (variable, usually early to mid-April) is also the most important week of Haitian and Dominican vodú . Festivals take place in the Haitian bateyes and in Haina.

MAY

Espiritu Santo
Huge celebrations in the capital's barrio Villa Mella, pueblo Santa María near San Cristóbal and the El Pomier caves, and San Juan de la Maguana - held seven weeks after Semana Santa.

JUNE

San Pedro Apostol
A magnificent Cocolo festival in San Pedro de Macorís on June 29, with roving bands of guloyas performing dance dramas on the street.

AUGUST

Festival of the Bulls
Higuey's fiesta patronal (Aug 14), with processions coming into the city from all sides - some from as far as 30km - with cowboys on horseback and large herds of cattle.

DECEMBER

Christmas
Guloya festivals in San Pedro de Macorís, Haitian Voodoo celebrations in the Haitian bateyes and rural groups of Caribbean-style Navidad carollers in the campos (Dec 25).

Festival of the Bulls
Traditional cattle festival in Bayaguana (Dec 28)

 

SANTO DOMINGO - With more than 39,000 volunteers from different official institutions, 9 regional command and control centers, 127 ambulances, over 2,400 aid stations on the main highways and toll roads of the country, the Center for Emergency Operations (COE) will begin Thursday 1st April its annual plan to reduce the amount of incidents and accidents during the celebration of Holy Week

This is a time in which thousands of persons take their vacations and enjoy the long weekend.

If you are a first time visitor to the Dominican Republic, and will be arriving from March 28th to April 4th, you will no doubt come accross numerous celebrations, festivities and National holidays.

Semana Santa or Holy Week is celebrated throughout the Catholic religion at Easter and is a time for reflection and prayer. This year, the holiday runs from Sunday March 28th and ends on Easter Sunday, April 4th. The DR has become well known for the way it celebrates its National Holidays, but this is a little more than a week long holiday! Dominicans do respect this time of year with numerous religious activities leading upto the resurrection of Christ, but you will find a large proportion of them on the beach!

Santo Domingo - The thousands of vacationers who returned to the capital yesterday were flanked by police and Amet in an operation aimed at preventing accidents.

The huge wave of vacationers who traveled from different parts of the country returned home after the long weekend. Early reports indicate that this year the number of traffic accidents and fatalities remained well below figures of last year. In comparison to 2009 where there were 56 fatalities, only 22 had been reported up to noon yesterday.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (AMET) and the Police led the plan to have a huge presence on the main roads in the country - Mainly at the entrance to the National District and the municipalities of the province of Santo Domingo. From 1500hrs to 1900hrs thousands of motorists were checked against traffic violations from drinking and driving, overloaded vehicles, speeding and reckless driving.

The Dom Rep has a bewildering barrage of festivals . On every day of the year, there seems to be some kind of celebration somewhere, the majority of which are regional fiestas patronales , held in honour of the city's or town's patron saint. These traditional fiestas are one of the great pleasures of a trip to the DR.

JANUARY

Virgen de Altagracia
January 21, the most important religious day in the Dominican calendar, including a several-day pilgrimage to Higuey.

Duarte Day
Holiday in honour of the Father of the Country, with public fiestas in all major towns on January 26.

FEBRUARY

Carnival
The pre-eminent celebration of the year, held on every Sunday in February and culminating on February 27. The biggest festival is in La Vega, with Santo Domingo a close second.

Independence Day
Celebration of independence from Haiti and the culmination of the Dominican Carnival (Feb 27). The place to be is Santo Domingo.

APRIL

Semana Santa
The Christian Holy Week (variable, usually early to mid-April) is also the most important week of Haitian and Dominican vodú . Festivals take place in the Haitian bateyes and in Haina.

MAY

Espiritu Santo
Huge celebrations in the capital's barrio Villa Mella, pueblo Santa María near San Cristóbal and the El Pomier caves, and San Juan de la Maguana - held seven weeks after Semana Santa.

JUNE

San Pedro Apostol
A magnificent Cocolo festival in San Pedro de Macorís on June 29, with roving bands of guloyas performing dance dramas on the street.

AUGUST

Festival of the Bulls
Higuey's fiesta patronal (Aug 14), with processions coming into the city from all sides - some from as far as 30km - with cowboys on horseback and large herds of cattle.

DECEMBER

Christmas
Guloya festivals in San Pedro de Macorís, Haitian Voodoo celebrations in the Haitian bateyes and rural groups of Caribbean-style Navidad carollers in the campos (Dec 25).

Festival of the Bulls
Traditional cattle festival in Bayaguana (Dec 28)