Festivities in San Marino
The year’s Religious and National holidays
Religious and National holidays
1 January – New Year’s Day
6 January - Epiphany
5 February - Anniversary of the liberation of the Republic from occupation by Cardinal Alberoni (1740) and the Feast of Saint Agatha*, patron saint of the Republic of San Marino
*Saint Agatha, patron saint of the city of Catania, is also patron saint of the Republic, together with the Holy Founder Marinus. The anniversary remembers 5 February, 1740, when Cardinal Enriquez, sent by the Holy See, confirmed the independence and freedom of the State of San Marino, following the attempt to annex it to the Holy See by the Pontifical Legate, Cardinal Alberoni. On 5 February the effigy of Saint Agatha is carried in procession from Borgo Maggiore to the Basilica of Saint Marinus in the historic centre of San Marino.
25 March - Anniversary of the Arengo* of 1906 and the Feast of the Militias
*In the age of the Commune, the Arengo represented direct democracy. It consisted of the heads of all families and was responsible for the administration of the State. Over time, as the population grew, its powers passed to a representative body, the Council, which operated according to the principles contained in the Statutes. Around the seventeenth century, an oligarchic regime began to take hold. This saw power in the Council limited to just a few families who handed down the position of Councillor by co-optation. On 25 March, 1906, the Arengo of all family heads met again, and they decided that the Great and General Council should be elected by the people.
In the present-day Sammarinese legal system, there is an institution called "Istanza d'Arengo", whereby the population can present petitions of public interest (right of petition) to the Captains Regent, on the first Sunday after their investiture every half year,. The Regency is committed to bringing these petitions to the attention of the Great and General Council, which must vote on them.
1 April and 1 October – Investiture of the Captains Regent* (Heads of State)
*Even today, as is set out in the ancient Statutes, the Heads of State change every six months. The Captains Regent are appointed by the Great and General Council at the end of March and the end of September. The handover between the outgoing and the new Captains Regent takes place on 1 April and 1 October during a ceremony that has remained unchanged for centuries and sees the participation of the entire population
Easter – Easter Monday
1 May – Labour Day
May-June (first Thursday after Whitsunday) - Corpus Christi
28 July – Anniversary of the Fall of Fascism and Freedom Day
15 August – Assumption Day
3 September – Feast of Patron Saint Marinus and Anniversary of the Foundation of the Republic (301 AD)*
*On 3 September San Marino celebrates its Founding Father Marinus and the foundation of the Republic, which according to tradition dates back to 301 AD. The day alternates moments of religious services, such as the Solemn Mass in the Basilica of Saint Marinus and the procession with the vestiges of San Marinus, to the historical procession of the Crossbowmen's Federation that ends with the traditional Grand Crossbow Tournament, established in the Statutes of 1300.
1 November – All Saints’ Day
2 November – Day of the Departed
8 December – Immaculate Conception
25 December - Christmas Day
26 December - Saint Stephen's Day
