What's on in the Dominican Republic in 2027, month by month?
The year runs from New Year's Day on Friday, 1 January 2027 to Christmas Day on Saturday, 25 December 2027, with carnival in February and March and Easter at the end of March. The last column gives the base for each date, and the next section explains what those labels mean.
| Date | What and where | Base |
|---|---|---|
| Friday, 1 January 2027 | New Year's Day | Official (Ministry of Labour) |
| Monday, 4 January 2027 | Epiphany (Santos Reyes), moved from 6 January | Official (Ministry of Labour) |
| Thursday, 21 January 2027 | Our Lady of Altagracia; pilgrimage to the basilica in Higüey | Official (Ministry of Labour) |
| Monday, 25 January 2027 | Duarte Day, moved from 26 January | Official (Ministry of Labour) |
| February 2027 | Carnival in La Vega and Santiago, on Sundays | Expected, unconfirmed |
| February 2027 | Punta Cana's party season returns | Expected, unconfirmed |
| Saturday, 27 February 2027 | Independence Day | Official (Ministry of Labour) |
| March 2027 | National Carnival Parade, on a Sunday, on the Malecón of Santo Domingo | Expected, unconfirmed |
| Sunday, 21 March 2027 | Palm Sunday, the start of Semana Santa | Calculated (Easter rule) |
| Friday, 26 March 2027 | Good Friday | Official (Ministry of Labour) |
| Sunday, 28 March 2027 | Easter Sunday | Calculated (Easter rule) |
| Saturday, 1 May 2027 | Labour Day | Official (Ministry of Labour) |
| Thursday, 27 May 2027 | Corpus Christi | Official (Ministry of Labour) |
| 15 July – 18 July 2027 | Corales Puntacana Championship (PGA TOUR golf), Puntacana Resort | Announced by the PGA TOUR |
| Sunday, 15 August 2027 | Our Lady of Altagracia, second high date at the basilica in Higüey | Expected, unconfirmed |
| Monday, 16 August 2027 | Restoration Day | Official (Ministry of Labour) |
| Friday, 24 September 2027 | Our Lady of Las Mercedes; pilgrimage to Santo Cerro, La Vega province | Official (Ministry of Labour) |
| Saturday, 6 November 2027 | Constitution Day | Official (Ministry of Labour) |
| Friday, 26 November 2027 | National Merengue Day | Set by Decree 8619-05 |
| Saturday, 11 December 2027 | National Bachata Day | Fixed date (Ministry of Culture) |
| Saturday, 25 December 2027 | Christmas Day | Official (Ministry of Labour) |
How firm is each date?
Official dates are firm: the Ministry of Labour published the 12 public holidays of 2027 on 2 November 2026, applying Law 139-97. National Merengue Day is set by Decree 8619-05, the Ministry of Culture calls 11 December the established date of National Bachata Day, and the golf comes from the PGA TOUR's own 2027 schedule.
Calculated dates follow the Gregorian rule for Easter. We ran the standard computation (the Meeus/Jones/Butcher algorithm) and it gives Sunday, 28 March 2027, with Palm Sunday a week earlier. As a check, the same result puts Good Friday and Corpus Christi on the two days the Ministry of Labour lists.
Expected means no official confirmation yet: the date rests on earlier years, or on a yearly pattern described by a ministry, and it can move. We will look again in mid-February 2027, because the Ministry of Culture announced its carnival parade on 19 February 2025 in 2025 and on 4 February 2026 in 2026.
When is carnival in the Dominican Republic in 2027?
No 2027 dates are out, so carnival is expected rather than confirmed: Sundays in February in the towns, and one Sunday in March for the national parade in Santo Domingo. The Ministry of Tourism says La Vega's carnival is celebrated every February, and February 2027 has four Sundays: 7 February, 14 February, 21 February and 28 February.
The National Carnival Parade was held on 23 March 2025 and on 15 March 2026, both on Santo Domingo's seafront. Palm Sunday comes early in 2027, on Sunday, 21 March 2027, so don't assume the same week. Our guide to the Dominican carnival in 2027 goes through each carnival and how to reach it from Punta Cana.
Which feast days are closest to Punta Cana?
Our Lady of Altagracia in Higüey is the closest: she is the town's patron saint, and on her feast, Thursday, 21 January 2027, thousands of Dominicans gather at the basilica, says the city council. The Ministry of Tourism puts Higüey about 45 minutes by road from Punta Cana and also marks 15 August as a high date there, which in 2027 is Sunday, 15 August 2027.
The long-distance taxi sheet on the airport's website gives US$70 one way and US$90 return to Higüey for up to four people; it is the 2024 sheet, the latest published. The other great pilgrimage is much further away: every 24 September, thousands climb Santo Cerro in La Vega province for Our Lady of Las Mercedes.
Is there a big event in Punta Cana itself in 2027?
One has a published date: the Corales Puntacana Championship, a PGA TOUR golf event at Puntacana Resort, from 15 July to 18 July 2027. It has moved before, from 17 April to 20 April 2025 and then from 16 July to 19 July 2026, so the month of one edition tells you little about the next.
Two others have no 2027 date and stay out of the table. Copa Cap Cana, an ATP Challenger 175 tennis tournament, was played from 9 March to 15 March 2026 in Cap Cana, and Este Festival, the Ministry of Culture's festival for the six eastern provinces, was held in Higüey from 28 August to 30 August 2026.
We found no official programme for patron-saint festivities in Bávaro or Verón, so none appears here.
Are National Merengue Day and National Bachata Day days off?
No: neither is on the Ministry of Labour's list, so they are celebrations rather than public holidays. National Merengue Day, Friday, 26 November 2027, was created by Decree 8619-05 in 2005 and recalls the first printed use of the word for the rhythm, in the newspaper El Oasis in 1854.
National Bachata Day follows on Saturday, 11 December 2027. UNESCO added merengue to its intangible heritage list in 2016 and bachata in 2019, as the Ministry of Culture recalls.
In 2025 the ministry marked them in Santo Domingo with a tribute in its merengue gallery and a workshop at the Casa de la Música in the Colonial City. There is no 2027 programme so far; to see the capital anyway, read Santo Domingo from Punta Cana.
How do Dominicans spend Easter and Christmas?
With family: the Ministry of Tourism describes both as the seasons when Dominicans go back to their home towns. At Easter some head for the beach and others to church on Good Friday and Holy Saturday, and the dish of the week is habichuelas con dulce, a sweet bean dessert.
Christmas, besides carnival, is one of the most festive times of the year, in the ministry's words. In the countryside, families go from house to house to eat, drink and dance, and on Christmas Eve whole pigs roast in the backyard all night.
And the party nights?
Punta Cana's party season is due back in February 2027, and no 2027 night has been published so far. As dates go on sale they appear in our calendar, and Bávaro after dark shows where the venues are. For days off and long weekends, see Dominican Republic public holidays 2027.
