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New Year’s Day
Aruba

New Year’s Day 2024, 2025 and 2026 in Aruba

Aruba celebrates New Year’s Day with a public holiday every 1 January, as does most of the rest of the world. However, the celebrations really begin on New Year’s Eve and reach a high point with the turning of the clock from 11:59pm on 31 December to midnight on 1 January.

YearDateDayHoliday
20241 JanMonNew Year's Day
20251 JanWedNew Year's Day
20261 JanThuNew Year's Day
Please scroll down to end of page for previous years' dates.

Aruba probably keeps New Year with more vigour and more creativity than almost any other nation you can name. Days in advance and on through to New Year’s Day, you will hear pagara firecracker strings exploding all over the island. These Chinese-style firecrackers end with a couple of larger crackers for a dramatic finale. Some are so long it takes 30 minutes for the entire string to explode!

From New Year’s Eve until Epiphany, groups of singers and musicians called “dande” go from door to door, calling on family and friends. This is akin to Christmas carolling, but it’s New Year’s wishes and songs that are offered instead. One member of the group may carry a donation hat to collect the generosity of the listeners. The earnings are divided among the group at day’s end.

Previous Years

YearDateDayHoliday
20231 JanSunNew Year's Day
20221 JanSatNew Year's Day
20211 JanFriNew Year's Day
20201 JanWedNew Year's Day
20191 JanTueNew Year's Day
20181 JanMonNew Year's Day
20171 JanSunNew Year's Day