Spanish Holidays: Resources for Días Festivos in Spanish Class

Traditions, special days, and celebrations: here you can find tons of resources for teaching about holidays in Spanish class!

I’ve also included dates of major Spanish holidays celebrated around the world (both in Spain and across Latin America).

As a new teacher, I didn’t know what to do with holidays. I introduced random vocabulary in order to to some fun, light activities. Days right before a holiday are usually crazy anyway, right?

Once I got my head wrapped around comprehensible input, I realized that I could use ANY topic in class. If all the kids were thinking about Thanksgiving or Valentine’s Day, we could base our lesson on that holiday.

Sometimes a fun craft or crossword is okay, but I no longer feel like that’s my only option. Take advantage of my collections here to make Spanish holidays meaningful AND comprehensible for Spanish class.

First, here’s a list of holidays commonly celebrated in English-speaking countries, translated into Spanish.

HolidayS in Spanish (Vocabulary Phrases)

Año nuevo (New Year’s)
Día del amor y la amistad/Día de San Valentín (Valentine’s Day)
Día de San Patricio (St. Patrick’s Day)
Día de inocentes (April Fool’s Day)
Pascua (Easter)
Semana Santa (Holy Week)
Día de la madre (Mother’s Day)
Día del padre (Father’s Day)

Día de brujas/Halloween (Halloween)
Día de acción de gracias (Thanksgiving)
Jánuca/Hanuka (Hanukkah)
Kwanzaa (Kwanzaa)
Nochebuena (Christmas Eve)
Navidad (Christmas)
Cumpleaños (Birthday)
La Nochevieja (New Year’s Eve)

One more note: should you capitalize holidays in Spanish? According to ThoughtCo.,

“… there are numerous instances where English capitalizes that Spanish does not. What Spanish does capitalize are proper names for people, places, holidays, newspapers, and magazines…
– ThoughtCo.

Now, let’s get to ideas for ideas for holiday in Spanish class.

You can also see at a glance what major holidays are celebrated in Spanish-speaking countries. Search for the holiday you’re looking for by scrolling to that month.

January Holidays in Spanish

January 1: Año Nuevo (New Year’s Day)
January 6: Three King’s Day (Dìa de Reyes o Magos, or Epifinía)
January 10: Birthday of Eugenio Maria de Hostos (Puerto Rico)
January 21: Feast of Nuestra Sra. de Altagracia (Dominican Republic)
January 26: Juan Pablo Duarte Day (Dominican Republic)
January 28: Birth of José Martí (Cuba)

Learn about the fun tradition people do in Spanish-speaking countries for good luck.

This post is packed with ideas for celebrating the New Year in Spanish class, even beginners.

Grab a free printable calendar in Spanish.

February Holidays in Spanish

February 2: Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (Mexico)
February 5: Día de la Constitucion (Mexico)
February 14th: Día del amor y la amistad (some countries celebrate on this date, and in some places it’s a different date).
February 24: Día de la bandera (Mexico)
Februrary 27: Dia de la Independencia de la República Dominica (The Dominican Republic’s Independence Day)

Some practical and meaningful ideas for talking about MLK Jr. in Spanish class.

These books should be used year-round. However, if you need a list of biographies, this is a great start.

Your students will love this awesome playlist of songs from Afro-Latinx musicians.

A collection of quotes in Spanish, from MLK, Jr.

Helpful information for teachers wanting to learn more about Afrolatinidad and creating equitable curriculum.

Resources for creating a lesson centered on Martin Luther King Jr.’s :”I Have a Dream” Speech.

Tons of ideas for celebrating Día del amor in Spanish class to make planning a breeze!

A playlist of catchy and school-friendly songs about love and friendship for Spanish class.

Free Valentine’s cards in Spanish to download and print.

Inspiration and idea for decorating in Spanish with printables.

A collection of picture books in Spanish all about love, friendship, and family.

One of my top posts ever, this playlist includes some of the top love songs in Spanish of all time.

March Holidays in Spanish

March 5: Carnaval
March 21: Birth of Benito Juarez (Mexico)
March 22: Emancipation Day (Puerto Rico)
March 31: Cesar Chavez holiday (California, Arizona and Texas)

Ideas and resources for talking about St. Patrick’s day in Spanish class.

April Holidays in Spanish

Varies by year: La Semana Santa (Easter and the Holy Week)
April 11: Battle of Rivas Day (Costa Rica)
April 19: Landing of the 33 Patriots Day (Uruguay)

May Holidays in Spanish

May 1: Primero de Mayo or Día del Trabajo or Día del Trabajador
May 5: Cinco de Mayo (Certain regions of México)
May 10: Día de las Madres
May 15: Día de la Independencia de Paraguay (Paraguay’s Independence Day)
May 18: Battle of Las Piedras (Paraguay)
May 20: Cuba’s birth as an independent republic
May 25: Día de la Independencia de Argentina (Argentina’s Independence Day)

June Holidays in Spanish

June 19: Artigas Day (Uruguay)
June 24: Feast of San Juan Bautista (several countries)
June 29: Feast of San Pedro y San Pablo

July Holidays in Spanish

July 5: Dia de la Independencia de Venezuela (Venezuela’s Independence Day)
July 6-14:Los Sanfermines
July 9: Día de la Independencia de Argentina (Argentina’s Independence Day)
July 19: Revolution Day (Nicaragua)
July 20: Día de la Independencia de Colombia (Colombia’s Independence Day)
July 24: Birth of Simon Bolivar (Colombia, Venezuela, Panama)
July 25: Constitution Day in Puerto Rico
July 25: St. James or Santiago Apostol (Spain)
July 26: Revolution Day (Cuba)
July 28-29: Día de la Independencia del Perú (Peru’s Independence Day)

August Holidays in Spanish

August 1-6: Feast of the Savior of the World or El Salvador del Mundo (El Salvador)
August 6 Dia de la Independencia de Bolivia (Bolivia’s Independence Day)
August 7: Battle of Boyacá (Colombia)
August 10 Dia de la Independencia de Ecuador (Ecuador’s Independence Day)
August 15: Feast of the Assumption
August 17: San Martín Day
August 25: Dia de la Independencia de Uruguay (Uruguay’s Independence Day)

September Holidays in Spanish

September 8: Feast of Nuestra Señora de la Caridad del Cobre (Cuba)
September 15: Dia de la Independencia de Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, y Honduras (Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras’ Independence Day)
September 16: Dia de la Independencia de México (Mexico’s Independence Day)
September 18: Dia de la Independencia de Chile (Chile’s Independence Day)
September 23: Grito de Lares (Puerto Rico)

October Holidays in Spanish

October 10: Grito de Yara (Cuba)
October 12: Día de la Raza o Día de la Hispanidad (Spain)
October 18: Señor de los Milagros (Peru)

November Holidays in Spanish

November 1-2: Día de los Muertos o Día de los Difuntos o Día de los Santos Inocentes
November 3: Dia de la Independencia de Panamá (Costa Rica’s Independence Day)
November 11: Cartagena Independence Day (Colombia)
November 19: Feast of Nuestra Señora de la Divina Providencia (Puerto Rico)
November 20: Mexican Revolution Day

December Holidays in Spanish

December 12: Día de la Virgen de Guadalupe (Mexico)
December 16-24 Las Posadas (Mexico, Guatemala and other Central American countries)
December 24-25 La Nochebuena y la Navidad