Nepal Muslim Public Holidays In The Near Future ?

Sources: Reuters India and Nepal public holidays. Two leading Muslim groups in Nepal, Awam Sahara Nepal and the Intellectual Muslim Association of Nepal, have said they would organise street protests if the government does not meet its demand to set aside seats for its community in the upcoming November elections. The groups are asking to have more than 10% of the seats of the upcoming assembly set aside for Muslims, although Muslims only represent 4% of the population of Nepal.

Analysis: It is unlikely that the government which includes traditionally atheistic Maoists will accept the slide into theocracy that an acceptance of these demands would entail. However, one likely solution would be to add 2 or 3 Muslim public holidays, for Muslim civil servants, to the calendar of public holidays in Nepal. This would not jar any of the other religious groups who often already have religious public holidays reserved for their civil servants.

Peru: Possible APEC Public Holiday In November 2008

Sources: La Nación and Peru public holidays. Peru's Vice-President indicated that a special security plan would be put in place, to coincide with the upcoming APEC meeting to be held in Lima, in November 2008.

Analysis: If a public holiday is declared, it will probably be limited to metropolitan Lima, in a manner similar to the way Sydney will observe a public holiday on September 7, 2007, for its own APEC meeting.

Bolivia July 2 Public Holiday In Santa Cruz

Sources: Diario Hoy, El Tribuno, Agencia Boliviana de Información, and Bolivia public holidays. The Departmental Council of the Office of the Governor of Bolivia's Department of Santa Cruz, has declared a public holiday on Monday, July 2, 2007, to coincide with the anniversary of the referendum in which 4 of the 9 departments of Bolivia voted in favor of greater autonomy.

Despite article 212 of the Bolivian Constitution, which permits either of the federal, state or municipal governments to declare one-off, or regional public holidays in addition to the above, up to a limit of 3 per year, national Labor Minister, Carla Chirino, issued a statement calling the declaration illegal, claiming that departmental public holidays are only allowed on each department's ephemerides (ie. similar to a patron saint day, but devoid of religious significance, due to Bolivia's current government's socialist leanings).

Update (30-jun-2007) In an article in today's El Mundo, the Departmental Council stated that it was going forward with the regional public holiday in this largest of 9 regions of Bolivia, and that many associations representing most employees of the region had already issued statements to the effect that they would observe this public holiday, at the very least in the afternoon. These named associations are: Comité pro Santa Cruz, Prefectura, Sector empresarial y productivo, Asociación de Bancos Privados de Bolivia (Asoban), Central Obrera Departamental (COD).

Australia 2008 Daylight Saving Time Changes

Sources: The Age and Australia public holidays. Beginning in 2008, Victoria, NSW, South Australia, Tasmania and the ACT will enjoy an extra four weeks of daylight saving time (DST), as DST will end on the first Sunday of April rather than the last Sunday in March, and will begin again three weeks earlier than before - on the first, rather than last, Sunday in October.

Venezuela's Bolivár State Public Holiday Today

Sources: Correo del Caroní and Agencia Bolivariana de Noticias and Venezuela public holidays. The Governor of the State of Bolivár, Francisco Rangel, decreed late last night that today, Wednesday, June 27, 2007, would be a public holiday throughout the state, for shops, public servants, schools and most private businesses. This is to coincide with the occurrence of the first game of the Group B of the Copa América de Fútbol.

Algeria: Renewed Week-End Definition Debate

Sources: Magharabia and Algeria public holidays. A recent change to the definition of the week-end, by Mittal Steel, the largest steel maker in Algeria, has provoked a furor among some of the more reactionary political parties, claiming that Mittal Steel's change of the week-end from Thursday-Friday to the Friday-Saturday already favored by most of the progressive Arab States, was a violation of the national identity. However, moderate ministers, such as Labor Minister, Tayeb Louh, have said that the move was a political non-event, as most banks and insurance companies already observe a Friday-Saturday week-end.

UK Britishness Public Holiday Back To The Fore

Sources: Christian Science Monitor, Bloomberg and UK public holidays. The new UK Prime Minster, Gordon Brown, is quoted as favoring a new public holiday – a "British day" – to promote a sense of British identity as a way to unite increasingly disparate social and religious groups. Although the above-quoted news article do not mention any possible date for this new UK public holiday, previous articles did mention the month of June as likely.

Turkey Considering Public Holiday On June 27 Due To Heat Wave

Sources: Nirvana International and Turkey public holidays. Temperatures in Turkey have reached such heights this week (10 to 13 degrees Celsius higher than their seasonal norm) that the government is considering calling a national holiday for tomorrow, Wednesday, June 27, 2007. No official confirmation is yet available, although the source of this news item is from a statement from Turkey's ministry of health.

Update (27-June-2007, 05:08 UTC): This has been confirmed, for certain categories of personnel, in certain provinces, by NTV-MSNBC.

Nepal Public Holiday On July 7 (Unconfirmed Report)

Sources: Islamic Republic News Agency and Nepal public holidays. We have come upon a news item, from the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA), which asserts that despite Ashad 23 (which is July 7, this year) no longer being celebrated in Nepal, as King Gyanendra's birthday (see our story of July 3, 2006), there will be some sort of public holiday, this year, on Saturday July 7, 2007 (recall that Saturdays are normal working days in Nepal).

Analysis: We cannot find any supporting evidence of such a holiday anywhere, and in addition, we cannot find any of the traditional Nepalese or Hindu festivals to occur on that date this year. We will continue to monitor the situation closely, but we expect the IRNA post to be an error.

Brazil June 29 Public Holiday In Alagoas State

Sources: Primeira Edição and Brazil public holidays. A decree gazetted in the Diário Oficial, and signed by Governor, Teotonio Vilela, establishes next Friday, June 29, 2007, as a public holiday in the state of Alagoas, on the occasion of Saints Peter and Paul Day.

Analysis: Although this public holiday is classified as ponto facultativo, and hence its effect is only compulsory on the civil service, as such, it is worth noting that Friday June 29, 2007, is also the Dia do Comerciário (day of shopkeepers) and that therefore, all shops will be closed on that day.

Australia APEC Public Holiday Clarification

Sources: Brisbane Times and Australia public holidays. The NSW parliament has passed laws aiming at clarifying both labour and opening hours issues related to the one-off public holiday of Friday, September 7, 2007, set in the Sydney Metropolitan area to coincide with the APEC summit.

Analysis: As far as employers and employees are concerned, the APEC public holiday is to be treated like any other public holiday, and the legislation gives the NSW government the power to close shops, including department stores and supermarkets, if required.

Malaysia's Sarawak and Sabah States Want September 16 National Public Holiday

Sources: The Star and Malaysia public holidays. Following up on our post of last Saturday, we were able to confirm that the 2 Malaysian States of Sarawak and Sabah are indeed looking into having September 16 included as a national public holiday, to mark the day Malaysia was formed.

Analysis: In the current context of the federal government trying to reduce the number of public holidays in Malaysia, it seems unlikely that yet another public holiday would be added to the list of Malaysia's public holidays, although we will continue to monitor the situation.

Lebanon Recent Public Holidays Changes Cancellation Sent To Constitutional Council

Sources: The Daily Star and Lebanon public holidays. As announced here last night, late yesterday, Lebanon's Ministerial Cabinet met and voted to cancel all 3 changes to Lebanon public holidays voted upon in December 2006, and gazetted late last week. As the changes had now been formally gazetted, the cancellation will need the formal approval of the Shura Council for ratification.

Guinea Declares June 25 Public Holiday For Gadaffi

Sources: Mail and Guardian and Guinea public holidays. Guinea declared a public holiday for Monday, June 25, 2007, to honour the visit of Libyan leader Moammar Gadaffi, who is in the Guinean capital on his way to the AU summit in Accra, having driven in a convoy of several hundred vehicles via Mali from Libya (the AU is the successor to the OAU, the Organisation of African Unity).

Lebanon Changes Public Holidays List

Sources: The Daily Star and Lebanon public holidays. Late last week, the Ministerial Cabinet of Lebanon finally gazetted the changes to Lebanon public holidays voted upon last December. These include the cancellation of Good Friday, the addition of the Monday after Easter, and the reduction of Eid al Adha from 2 to 1 day.

Update (25-jun-2007): After a groundswell of protests, Good Friday was re-instated as a public holiday in Lebanon.

Argentina's Flag Day Public Holiday: Renewed Debate

Sources: Diario Hoy and Argentina public holidays. Leading socialist Argentine politician, Roberto Miguel Lischitz, has added his voice to a growing recent chorus of calls for a change in the calculation of the date of Argentina's Día de la Bandera (Flag Holiday) public holiday.

Analysis: This is part of a growing movement in Central and South America, whereby movable public holidays are reset to the fixed date of the event that they commemorate. Currently Argentina's Flag Day public holiday is held on the 3rd Monday in June, but in fact the official date it commemorates is June 20. A change of this public holiday to the fixed date of June 20 is not unlikely, as one will recall that in 2006 Argentina made the Malvinas Day public holiday a fixed, non-movable date, public holiday to be celebrated on April 2.

UK: Renewed Moves For Wales' March 1st Public Holiday

Sources: BBC News, UK public holidays and Wales public holidays. Swansea Council has voted to investigate the cost and legality of the council celebrating Sain David's Day, Wales' national day, on March 1st, every year. The UK government has rejected calls for a Wales-wide holiday, although it was backed by Assembly Members in a vote 7 years ago.

Ecuador Declares Provincial Public Holiday For June 25

Sources: El Diario and Ecuador public holidays. The secretariat of the Governorship of , through its spokesperson, Nevardo Alvarado, announced early today, after a week of hesitation, that next Monday, June 25, 2007, would be a provincial public holiday, to commemorate the incorporation as province of Manabí and the cantonalization of Portoviejo, Jipijapa and Montecristi.

Malaysia Aiming To Reduce Number Of Public Holidays

Sources: The Star and Malaysia public holidays. One of Malaysia's Ministers in the Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk Dr Maximus Ongkili, said yesterday that the Malaysian government was aiming to reduce the number of public holidays in Malaysia, although he stopped short of setting out any type of deadline. Of particular concern seems to be the declaration of one-off public holidays in Malaysia for ethnic holidays (our post of May 31) or for the coronation of local sultans (our post of April 8).

Qatar Confirms December 18 New Annual Public Holiday

Sources: Gulf Times and Qatar public holidays. As we had forecasted in outr news post of April 5, yesterday, the Deputy Emir, and Heir Apparent, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani , issued Law No. 61 of 2007, announcing the day of Sheikh Jassem bin Mohamed bin Thani’s assumption of power as a national day in the state. According to the law, to go into effect from the date of issue and to be published in the official gazette, December 18 shall be a national day in the state.

Mongolia Declares National Day Of Mourning

Sources: China Post and Mongolia public holidays. Earlier today, the Government of Mongolia announced that Mongolia will ban all sports and entertainment events in a national day of mourning for 15 people killed this week in a helicopter crash.

Spain's Basque Autonomy Announces 2008 Regional Public Holidays

Sources: El País and Spain public holidays. The Basque autonomous region (Euskadi) has announced the 2 public holidays that would be observed, throughout the autonomy, in 2008, in addition to the 9 nation-wide public holidays.

Analysis: Recall that Spanish regions, towns, villages and cities have additional public holidays of their own. There is a base of, usually 9, public holidays that are common to all regions of Spain, plus Epiphany and Maundy Thursday which each region can replace with one or two region-specific public holidays. Regions also have the option of adding a regional public holiday, without removing any of the common ones, or Epiphany and Maundy Thursday. The main reason why the specific public holidays for each province and municipality change every year, is that these are usually patron saint days, which always occur on a fixed date. Therefore, when these fixed dates fall on a weekend, another holiday or patron saint is chosen for that year, to avoid "wasting" a holiday.

Ecuador Confirms 2008-2011 Public Holidays

Sources: Ecuador public holidays. The Government of Ecuador has confirmed the details of the calculation of the dates of public holidays for the period of 2008 to 2011. There were no major changes compared to the 2008-2011 dates that Q++ Studio subscribers have had for over a year, now, except for a difference in the recuperation of Carnival Monday and Tuesday, and the confirmation of the hitherto unofficial rules for the moving of some mid-week public holidays in Ecuador. This amended data is available for download by Q++ Studio subscribers.

Madagascar June 25 Bridge Public Holiday Reminder

Sources: AllAfrica.com and Madagascar public holidays. This is a reminder that next Monday, June 25, 2007, will be a bridge public holiday.

Analysis: It was felt that this reminder was necessary, even though the June 25 bridge public holiday was specified in the February 27 publication of the Madagascar Government's Journal Officiel (décret n° 2007-006 du 9 janvier 2007), and our page of Madagascar 2007 public holidays was immediately updated. But, most online sources missed this update and, even in Madagascar, people and businesses are suddenly realizing that there is a bridge public holiday next Monday.

Cuba Declares June 19 National Day Of Mourning For Unofficial First Lady

Sources: Prensa Latina and Cuba public holidays. Following last night's death of Vilma Espín, the Cuban Government has declared today, Tuesday, June 19, 2007, a national day of mourning. Vilma Espín had been married to Raul Castro, Fidel Castro's brother, since 1959, and as Fidel Castro had never married, she had served as unofficial First Lady for the last 47 years.

Analysis: Due to the stagnant economic activity in Cuba, nowadays, and a likely one up-manship by everyone to look as pro-Castro as possible in front of neighbors and other possible informants for the secret police, one can expect that most people will spend the day in public manifestations of sorrow, and that little work will be done in Cuba today.

St. Kitts and Nevis To Hold 2 Days Of Mourning And June 20 Regional Public Holiday

Sources: Sun St.Kitts and Nevis and St. Kitts and Nevis public holidays. Prime Minister, Dr. Denzil Douglas, announced two days of official mourning, beginning tomorrow, Tuesday June 19, 2007, for the late Malcolm Guishard, leader of the opposition in the federal Parliament. During that time, the national federal flag will be flown at half mast on all government buildings and the governor-general has been asked to declare a public holiday on the island of Nevis on the day of the funeral, Wednesday, June 20, 2007.

Uruguay July 5 Public Holiday In Punta Del Este

Sources: Diario El País and Uruguay public holidays. The declaration of Thursday, July 5, 2007, as a día feriado no laborable (non-working public holiday) in Punta del Este is causing waves in parliament, but deputies have agreed to put the motion on next Wednesday's agenda as an item of priority.

Iran Declares 3-Day National Mourning And June 17 Provincial Public Holiday

Sources: Islamic Republic News Agency and Iran public holidays. Earlier today, Iran's Cabinet of Ministers has declared 3-day of national mourning, beginning on Sunday June 17, for the demise of Grand Ayatollah Mohammad Fazel Lankarani. In related news, the governorate general of the Province of Qom has declared Sunday as a public holiday in the province due to sorrowful loss of Grand Ayatollah Lankarani.

Israelis Not Ready To Replace Friday Day Of Rest With Sunday

Sources: Ynetnews and Israel public holidays. In our post of May 14, we reported on a proposal to exchange Friday as the weekly day of rest with Sunday. A recent poll indicates that the Jewish population of Israel is not yet ready for such a change (non-Jewish, Israeli citizens, were not polled).

Cambodia General Elections Called For July 2008

Source: La Prensa Latina and Cambodia public holidays. The government of Cambodia has announced that elections for the 4th National Assembly would occur on Sunday, July 28, 2008.

Paraguay General Elections Scheduled For April 2008

Sources: Mercopress and Paraguay public holidays. Paraguay's Electoral Tribunal recently confirmed that Paraguay will be going to the polls on April 20, 2008, to elect the successor of President Nicanor Duarte Flores, the post of vice president and Congress’ 80 members of the Lower House and 45 Senators, as well as the executive and legislative councils of the country’s 17 provinces (elections are held every five years).

Indonesia's Capital Will Declare August 8 Public Holiday

Sources: The Jakarta Post and Indonesia public holidays. The Jakarta administration will declare Wednesday, august 8, 2007, a public holiday in the municipal area of Jakarta, in order to encourage Jakartans to vote in city's first ever direct gubernatorial election. This public holiday will be mandated for all offices, including private companies, operating in Jakarta.

Philippines' Negros Oriental Buglasan Festival Public Holiday Dates Being Reconsidered

Sources: The Visayan Daily Star and Philippines public holidays. President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo (PGMA) had earlier declared every third Friday of October as an official non-working holiday for the province of Negros Oriental so its constituents can participate and enjoy the Buglasan festival. However, Governor-elect, Emilio Macias II, started holding consultations with various officials and other stakeholders in line with his plan for revisions in the holding of the annual Buglasan Festival in the province, with the possible outcome that the festival may be moved to the beginning of the calendar year (ie. early January). This decision will come by the beginning of July 2007.

Costa Rica Debates Changing Public Holidays Back To Fixed Dates

Sources: Telenoticias and Costa Rica public holidays. Despite protests from the Costa Rica Tourism Office (Cámara Nacional de Turismo), who claims that long weekends promote internal travels, the Legislative Assembly of Costa Rica (Asamblea Legislativa) is moving ahead with a revision of this year's decision to make some of the Costa Rica public holidays move to the nearest Monday (specifically: April 11, July 25, August 15, and October 12).

Analysis: This is a follow-up to our post of January 15, 2007, which mentioned that the 2 holidays whose movable date status was causing the most ire, were Día de la Anexión de Guanacaste (Jul-25) and Día de la Madre (Aug-15). But for the moment, the dates of these 2 holidays remain as specified, on the nearest Monday.

Lebanon Declares June 14 Day Of National Mourning

Sources: Libnanews and Lebanon public holidays. Following the powerful car bomb killed anti-Syrian Lebanese lawmaker, Walid Eido, and nine other people on Wednesday, the Lebanese government declared Thursday, June 14, 2007, when the funerals are due to take place, a day of national mourning.

June 18 Public Holiday In Philippines' Naga City

Sources: Naga City Journal and Philippines public holidays. Monday, June 18, 2007, will be a special non-working holiday in the first-class city of Naga City in commemoration of the city’s annual charter anniversary, by virtue of Republic Act 9210, otherwise known as “An Act Declaring June 18 of each Year as Naga City Charter Day and a Special Nonworking Holiday in the City of Naga in Order to Commemorate the Charter Anniversary of the said City” and which was passed by the House of Representatives and the Senate on January 22, 2003 and approved by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo (PGMA) on June 11, 2003.

Brazil's Parliament Considering Declaring June 24 and June 29 Public Holidays

Sources: Infonet Noticias and Brazil public holidays. A bill by deputy Luis Mitidieri has left commission for a first reading in front of the Brazilian Chamber of Deputies. This law, if passed would make the dates of Saint John (June 24) and SS Peter and Paul (June 29) national public holidays (feriados nacionais). Asked about the negative effect that 2 additional public holidays might have on Brazil's businesses, Deputy Mitidieri pointed out that in recent years, governments at both the state and federal levels have regularly made these 2 dates optional public holidays (ponto facultativo) at the last minute, so the proposed law is in the interest of clarity.

Chile's Easter Island May Get Its Own Public Holiday

Sources: Mercopress and Chile public holidays. Late last week, the Chamber of Deputies of Chile approved a constitutional reform that designates both Easter Island (Rapa Nui) and the Juan Fernández archipelago as “special territories”. As part of the constitutional reform, the two territories will also establish many of their own laws, as well as set up new local government positions, and may very well declare their own public holiday, more related to its inhabitants' Polynesian ancestry, than the Catholic public holidays of Chile.

Analysis: Although no date or choice of a public holiday has been mentioned, so far, one very likely candidate would be somewhere near the Tapati Festival which lasts from the last week of January to the first week of February.

Russia One-Off Public Holiday On June 11

Sources: Tass and Russia public holidays. To create a bridge holiday to the Russia Day public holiday, on Tuesday June 12, 2007, the Russian government ruled to move the working day of Monday, June 11 to Saturday, June 9, and to make Monday, June 11, 2007, a one-off public holiday.

Bolivia's MAS Party Proposes Exchanging Corpus Christi and Año Nuevo Indígena Public Holidays

Sources: La Patria and Bolivia public holidays. In a development related to our post of June 4, Bolivia's governing party, MAS (Movimiento al Socialismo), has proposed the removal of the Corpus Christi public holiday, in exchange for the creation of a new public holiday that would commemorate the June 21, Año Nuevo Aymara (also known as Inti Raymi, or Año Nuevo Indígena).

Update: (La Patris, June 7) Deputies have rejected the motion to replace Corpus Christi with Inti Raymi ... for the time being.

Oman Declares June 6-9 Public Holiday

Sources: Gulf News and Oman public holidays. Due to Cyclone Gonu, the Oman government has declared a public holiday for tomorrow, Wednesday June 6, 2007. Bearing in mind that, in Oman, the weekends are still Thursdays and Fridays (see our post of June 3), this means that government and businesses will be shutdown until Saturday morning, June 9.

Update: The government has now officially specified that Thursday and Friday, June 7-8, should be public holidays for both the public and private sectors, and in addition, has added Saturday, June 9, as a public holiday (source: Xinhua).

Sierra Leone Also Declares 3-Day Mourning

Sources: Pravda and Sierra Leone public holidays. Sierra Leone President, Ahmed Tejan Kabbah, declared three days of national mourning for the dead, following a weekend helicopter crash that killed 22 people, most of them Togolese. As reported in our post of June 4, Togo had also declared a 3-day period of mourning yesterday.

Bolivia Could Declare June 21 Inti Raymi Annual Public Holiday

Sources: La Patria and Bolivia public holidays. The Bolivian legislative assembly (Cámara de Diputados) is getting ready to analyze a bill which would make create a new annual public holiday, on June 21, to mark the Indigenous People's New Year (Año Nuevo Indígena), also know as Inti Raymi (celebrated as such as a regional public holiday in Peru). According to the last census (2002), 63% of Bolivians consider themselves to be "indigenous".

Analysis: It is not clear yet, if this holiday would be observed in 2007, or only beginning in 2008. We are monitoring the situation and will report on any decision.

Update: See our follow-up post of June 6.

Togo Expected To Declare Day Of Mourning Later This Week

Sources: Business in Africa and Togo public holidays. A national day of mourning can be expected for later this week in Togo, following the helicopter crash that killer Togo's Sports Minister, Atipe Kwako, and 18 Togolese nationals, mostly members of a delegation of Togolese sports officials, who had been attending the African cup of Nations football elimination match in which the Togo beat Sierra Leone 1-0 (none of the Togo football team were on board, though). We will continue to monitor further development, such as whether the day of mourning is declared a one-off public holiday.

Update: Late on Monday, Togo's President decreed three days of national mourning; during this period, flags will fly at half mast across the country, but no public holiday has been declared.

Kuwait Weekends Will Change to Friday-Saturday In September

Sources: The Middle East Times, Kuwait Times, and Kuwait public holidays. Last Sunday, Kuwait's Cabinet issued an administrative decision to officially change the state's weekends from Thursday and Friday to Friday and Saturday, beginning on September 1st, 2007. The private sector in is not bound to follow the government, but banks and most of the oil sector already apply a Friday-Saturday weekend to be more in line with international markets, which close Saturday-Sunday.

Analysis: Recall from our post of May 2006, that The UAE, Bahrain and Qatar made the same change last year, also on September 1st, leaving only 2 members of the Gulf Cooperation Council, namely Saudi Arabia and Oman, that still observe Thursday and Friday weekends.

USA Election Day As Public Holiday Proposal Revived

Sources: Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton's website, Senator Feinstein Press Release, and USA public holidays. Senator Clinton's 2005 Count Every Vote Act proposal is getting a second lease in life with the recent introduction of comprehensive election reform legislation, the Ballot Integrity Act of 2007, by Senators Dianne Feinstein and Christopher Dodd. Recall that Senator Clinton's act mandated that election day be made a US federal public holiday, to increase voter participation.

Analysis: Even if the provision for a federal public holiday on election day did make it in the final version of the Ballot Integrity Act, it would only apply to federal civil servants, leaving out state civil servants, as well as the private sector.

Day In Lieu For Canada's Quebec Provincial Holiday Might Disappear

Sources: Portail du Gouvernment du Québec and Canada public holidays. A provincial bill, currently under consideration and introduced by Quebec's Labor Minister, David Whissell, would change the rule that moves the date of Quebec's fête nationale (the Saint Jean Baptiste public holiday), from June 24 to June 25 if the 24th is a Sunday, so that the date of this public holiday would remain fixed to June 24, in all cases.

Analysis: It is unlikely that this law would be passed and take effect soon enough to affect this year's Saint Jean Baptiste public holiday, which does fall on a Sunday. So we are maintaining our published date of Monday, June 25, 2007.

Brazil: Many States and Municipalities Declare June 8 Bridge Public Holiday

Sources: Multiple Brazilian sources and Brazil public holidays. With the Corpus Christi public holiday falling on Thursday, June 7, in 2007, in Brazil, many states and municipalities have declared Friday, June 8, 2007, a bridge public holiday (ponto facultativo) for state and municipal civil servants.