Christmas Day in Vanuatu

Public holiday and legal rules

Vanuatu’s Public Holidays Act, Cap. 114, lists Christmas Day among the country’s public holidays. The Act also allows the President, on the Prime Minister’s advice, to declare additional public holidays.[1]

The Act provides a substitute day when a listed holiday falls on a Sunday: the following Monday is a public holiday. It does not provide a general substitute when Christmas falls on another day of the week. The Act also allows the President to order shops and other businesses to close on a public holiday; it names exceptions including hotels, sales of medicines, certain basic foods until noon, and refreshments sold for consumption on the premises.[1]

The Prime Minister’s Office public-holiday calendar lists Christmas on 25 December. The Act provides a substitute day when a listed holiday falls on Sunday, but it does not require every employee to have the day off or all offices, banks and businesses to close.[1][4]

Christian roots and local meaning

Christmas marks the Christian celebration of Jesus’s birth. Vanuatu’s history, as summarized by the Vanuatu Tourism Office, records the arrival of missionaries in 1839 and the establishment of mission stations across the islands by the 1860s. The Office also describes Christianity’s effects on local society and the varied ways people responded to it.[3]

Vanuatu Post describes Christmas as part of the Christian calendar and a time for both religious observance and family life. It calls the Christmas and New Year season Bonane, and notes that residents of larger centres may return to their home islands at year’s end.[2]

Ways people celebrate

Vanuatu Post’s Christmas account describes church on Christmas Eve in Port Vila, followed by picnics, beach outings, food and games on Christmas Day. For celebrations at home, it mentions baked food, barbecue and games with children. These are examples described for Port Vila and home celebrations, not a rule for every island or household.[2]

The same account describes village choruses visiting neighbouring communities to sing religious and secular songs. Together with the return to home islands from larger centres, this points to a season of family visits and community music alongside church observance. Ask local hosts about Christmas dishes.[2]

Planning for the day

Christmas is a public holiday, but the Act makes business closure subject to a specific presidential order rather than imposing a blanket closure on all businesses. It also identifies permitted exceptions if such an order applies. Check opening hours with banks, shops and transport providers before making plans.[1]