Public holidays in Fiji reflect the country's cultural diversity. Each major religion in Fiji has a public holiday dedicated to it. Also Fiji's major cities and towns hold annual carnivals, commonly called festivals, which are usually named for something relevant to the city or town, such as the Sugar Festival in Lautoka, as Lautoka's largest and most historically important industry is sugar production.
Public Holidays that fall on the weekend are usually moved to either the Friday of the preceding week or the Monday of the following week. This includes religious holidays as well, though in essence they are celebrated on the actual day.
List of important festivals and days in Fiji[edit]
Date
Festival
Notes
January 1
New Year's Day|Celebrations can continue for a week, or even a month, in some areas. It is common practice in Fiji to beat drums and shower one another with water. Fireworks and an annual Street Party is held in the heart of Suva, the nations capital to welcome the new year and is one of the largest new year celebrations in the South Pacific.
Major Christian festival; the Friday (Good Friday) and the Sunday (Easter Sunday) are both official public holidays. There is also a Public Holiday on Easter Monday, the Monday following Easter Sunday.
The celebrations in honor of Fiji's first modern statesman actually begin a week early. It is almost always celebrated on a Friday. This was formerly a public holiday, but the military-backed interim government abolished it following the military coup of 2006.
Sometime in the first half of the year and based on the Islamic and lunar calendars.Eid ]]
Muslim festival celebrating after Ramadhan. The public holiday is not on the actual day of celebration due to the unpredictability of the moons appearance that signals the day.
The anniversary of both Fiji's cession to the United Kingdom in 1874 and attainment of independence in 1970. The week leading up to Fiji Day is called Fiji Week, a week of religious and cultural ceremonies celebrating the country's diversity.
Hindu "Festival of Lights," in honor of Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth and prosperity. The public holdiay is a day of colour and celebration amongst all of Fiji's races and creeds not in its religious sense but for its festive and cultural aspects. Hindus in Fiji usually open their homes to other families to share in the traditional sweets and foods of Diwali in Fiji.
