Dominica: Holidays, Events, Climate
Holidays or holidays
There are a number of public holidays that do not have a fixed date but are based on the location of Easter. Easter takes place on the first Sunday that follows the first full moon after the beginning of spring. Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent, which ends on Holy Saturday, is 46 days before Holy Saturday.
The date for Pentecost is then 50 days after Easter. The Corpus Christi festival is celebrated on the 2nd Thursday after Pentecost. All Saints’ Day is celebrated for Orthodox Christians on the 1st Sunday after Pentecost, but for Catholic Christians the date is fixed on November 1st. On October 31, Protestants celebrate Reformation Day. The Halloween festival also takes place on this day.
Date | Type of holiday |
January 1 | New Year (New Years’ Day) |
January 2 | Holiday of merchants (Merchant’s Holiday); Except for banks and authorities, all shops are closed |
Monday and Tuesday before Ash Wednesday | Mardi Gras (Carnival) |
March April | Good Friday (Good Friday) and Easter Monday (Easter Monday) |
1st of May | Labor Day (May Day) |
8. Monday after Easter | Whit (Whit Monday) |
1st Monday in August | Commemoration day for the liberation of slaves 1834 (August Monday) |
last October Friday | Creole Day |
November 3rd | Independence Day (Independence Day) |
November 4 | Community Service Day |
25 December | 1st Christmas Day (Chrismas Day) |
December 26 | 2. Christmas Day (Boxing Day) |
Source: Countryaah – Dominica Holidays
Regular events
Early May | Giraudel/Eggleston Flower Show |
June | Party Isidore |
July | Dive Festival, a diving spectacle in the Caribbean http://avirtualdominica.com/divefest.cfm |
beginning of August | Porthmouth Summer Festival |
October | World Creole Music Festival |
Note, Carib Territory
The last descendants of the indigenous people of the Caribbean live on Dominica. The Caribs live in a territory of 1,500 hectares in the north of the island. King Victoria made this area available to the Indians in 1903, who have lived here under self-government ever since. They live from fishing and building dugout canoes, agriculture, basket weaving and handicrafts. You can still see the typical grass huts, but unfortunately they are increasingly being replaced by the usual corrugated iron huts.
As a visitor you can drive through this area, fruit and handicrafts are offered on the roadside. The area is by no means to be seen as a visitor attraction, as it unfortunately happens again and again at the moment, it is not for nothing that the residents have converted the name reserve into territory. If you want to know more about the people here, you can visit the Carib Council Office with a small museum, which is located directly in the territory. There is also the possibility to spend a while at the Carib Guesthouse.
Dominica: climate
Dominica’s climate is tropical but temperate due to the winds that come from the northeast. Heavy rains are common, especially during the hurricane season between May and November.
Travel times
For people who have no problems with the tropical climate and who like to enjoy a lot of sunshine and for whom higher temperatures do not cause any problems, we recommend staying there all year round.
Sights on Dominica
- Abbreviationfinder.org: Presents the way that DM stands for the nation of Dominica as a two-letter acronym.
UNESCO World Heritage Sites
Morne Trois Pitons
National Park The Morne Trois Pitons National Park is located 13 km east of the capital Roseau. The area of the park is 7,000 ha = 70 km², on which the 1,342 m high volcano Morne Trois Pitons is located.
Deep gorges, the valley of hopelessness, the “Valley of Desolation”, around 50 steam escape points. “Fumaroles”, hot springs and a boiling lake characterize this varied landscape.
The biodiversity is great, so one suspects around 5,000 different plants. The rainforest covers a large part of the area and is home to some mammals and numerous species of birds such as endangered parrots and reptiles.
The national park was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1997.
Special buildings and structures
The Old Mill/West Coast
The old sugar mill was built in 1773 and has been in operation ever since. It belonged to one of the oldest and longest-used plantations on the island. An American millionaire bought the property in 1908 and converted it to steam engines. Today an art and culture center is located here, where many events take place during the carnival. The area is surrounded by a pretty garden and a small zoo, which is home to the rare Jaco parrot.
Fort Young in Roseau
The fort dates from the 18th century and was built by the British. Today only a few stone walls remain, the remains of two hurricanes.
In 1964 the fort was opened as a hotel and after various renovation and expansion work, the hotel has now earned a reputation as the best on the island.
Museums
Dominica Museum in Roseau
The small, lovingly prepared museum is on the first floor of the tourist information office.
Churches
Roseau Cathedral
The Catholic cathedral in Roseau was consecrated in 1916. It is built in the neo-Gothic style.
The church is the bishopric of the Diocese of Dominica and belongs to the Archdiocese of Castries in St. Lucia.
Markets
Old Market in Roseau
On the rectangular Market Square in Roseau is today the arts and crafts market. Typical spices of the island, various colorful T-shirts, hammocks, music CDs and handicrafts are sold on these.
Important universities
Colegio Internacional SEK-Las Américas
Ross University Medical School
The university was founded in 1978 in Portsmouth.
St. Linus University
University of the West Indies
Jamaica is one of the sponsors of the University of the West Indies. This university is a network of several universities, with different institutes spread across the West Indies. There are 3 main institutions in Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and Barbados.
Participating states at the University of the West Indies are:
- Anguilla
- Antigua and Barbuda
- Bahamas
- Barbados
- Belize
- British Virgin Islands
- Dominica
- Grenada
- Jamaica
- Cayman Islands
- Montserrat
- St. Kitts and Nevis
- St. Lucia
- St. Vincent and the Grenadines
- Trinidad and Tobago
- Turks and Caicos Islands
Botanical gardens
Botanical Garden/Roseau
Until the previous century, this park was home to a variety of tropical plants from all over the world and was one of the best in the Caribbean. But Hurricane David destroyed this park and didn’t leave much. A breadfruit tree that buried an entire school bus during the storm can still be seen today. Cricket games take place on the large lawn. The Forestry Division is housed here and has hiking maps,
posters and brochures about the local flora and fauna ready for a small fee. At the Sisserou-Express there are two aviaries in which two specimens of the endangered parrot species, the Jacko and the Sisserou, can still be seen.