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Ash Wednesday
Jamaica

Ash Wednesday 2024, 2025 and 2026 in Jamaica

Ash Wednesday is one of four Christian holidays on the holiday calendar Ii Jamaica, the other three being Good Friday, Easter Monday, and Christmas Day. Ash Wednesday is the first day of Lent in Roman Catholic and certain Protestant traditions.

YearDateDayHoliday
202414 FebWedAsh Wednesday
20255 MarWedAsh Wednesday
202618 FebWedAsh Wednesday
Please scroll down to end of page for previous years' dates.

The day or days just before Ash Wednesday are Carnival Season, a relatively new innovation in Jamaica that came to the island in 1989. Carnival was introduced by a group that had been traveling to Trinidad for Carnival for years but couldn’t in 1989 due to Hurricane Gilbert. So they introduced Carnival to Jamaica with great success.

Ash Wednesday can fall anywhere from 4 February to 10 March, but it’s always placed 40 days before Holy Saturday, the day before Easter Sunday.

Many in Jamaica go to church services on Ash Wednesday. In some denominations, ashes blessed by a priest are applied to the foreheads of penitents who kneel at the church altar. The ashes may be marked in the shape of a cross.

For many others, however, Ash Wednesday is just a day off to spend at home with family and friends. It’s a time to relax and recover from the raucous celebrations of Carnival that have just ended.

Previous Years

YearDateDayHoliday
202322 FebWedAsh Wednesday
20222 MarWedAsh Wednesday
202117 FebWedAsh Wednesday
202026 FebWedAsh Wednesday
20196 MarWedAsh Wednesday
201814 FebWedAsh Wednesday
20171 MarWedAsh Wednesday