General Information
There is nothing more irritating than arriving in a foreign country and finding everything closed due to a public or national holiday. Being a catholic country, many of the public holidays in Croatia are religious-based.
Together with the traditional holidays like New Year, Christmas and Labour Day, there are also festivities to celebrate independence day and victory day. Smaller grocery shops and markets may well be open, together with some larger supermarkets. Bars and restaurants are generally open during those days, especially during tourist season.
Timetables for buses, trains and other forms of public transportation might be different on holidays. Usually, there are fewer departures or they visit fewer destinations than on regular days.
In Dubrovnik we celebrate a special (unofficial) holiday on February 3, the day of Saint Blaise (sv. Vlaho). St. Blaise is the protector of Dubrovnik. Citizens of Dubrovnik celebrate him since the time he saved Dubrovnik from the Arabs. According to the legend, he appeared in a dream of a town's rector and nobleman, warning him about the attack. It is believed that he was a Christian priest in Little Asia in the 4th century.
During these 5-6 days of festivities citizens of Dubrovnik are reminded of the value of freedom and importance of kindness to each other. An interesting fact is that, according to the law of Dubrovnik Republic, criminals and other offenders were set free from prosecution on St. Blaise day.
Public Holidays in Croatia in 2023
1 January New Year’s Day
6 January Epiphany
Easter – date is different every year
Easter Monday – date is different every year
1 May International Workers' Day
30 May Statehood Day
Corpus Christi – date is different every year
22 June Anti-Fascist Struggle Day
5 August Victory and Homeland Thanksgiving Day and the Day of Croatian Defenders
15 August Assumption of Mary
1 November All Saints' Day
18 November Remembrance Day for the victims of the Homeland War and the victims of Vukovar and Škabrnja
25 December Christmas
26 December St. Stephen's Day