Christmas in the Dominican Republic, seen from a residence at Itza in Cap Cana

For many owners in Punta Cana, Christmas is the reason to have a home here at all: the weeks when the family flies south and the house is full. The Dominican Christmas around them is its own season, longer than the North American one, centred on Christmas Eve rather than Christmas Day, and carried through to Three Kings' Day in January. This guide explains what the season looks like, which dates are public holidays and why some move, what an employer owes in December, and how the year's festivals run on into carnival in February, from the point of view of an owner at Itza Golden Residences in Cap Cana.

What does a Dominican Christmas look like?

The centre of it is the night of 24 December, Nochebuena. Families gather for a long dinner that the Dominican newspaper Diario Libre describes as built on pork, now joined at many tables by turkey or roast chicken, ensalada rusa (a potato salad), moro de gandul (rice with pigeon peas), telera bread, fruit and a glass of ponche. At midnight comes the Misa de Gallo, the midnight mass. Christmas Day is a quieter day after the night before.

Around that night sit the other customs. Aguinaldos are groups of friends going house to house singing and playing carols, traditionally offered ginger tea or chocolate at each door. The angelito is a gift exchange among friends, family or colleagues, each giving to a name drawn in secret. Diario Libre notes that some of these customs are fading in the cities, so treat them as what you may meet rather than what every street will do.

Which days are public holidays, and why do some move?

The Dominican Republic has 12 national holidays in 2026 under Law 139-97, and that law moves many of them to a Monday to make long weekends: a holiday on a Tuesday or Wednesday shifts to the previous Monday, and one on a Thursday or Friday to the following Monday. Some dates are kept fixed for religious or patriotic reasons, among them 25 December, 1 January, 21 January, the day of Our Lady of Altagracia, and 27 February, Independence Day.

Three Kings' Day, 6 January, is one of the movable ones: in 2026 it was observed on Monday 5 January. Christmas Day 2026 falls on a Friday, so the holiday weekend runs from Friday to Sunday. For an owner the practical point is simple: offices, notaries and banks close on these days, so anything that needs a signature is best done before the week of Christmas, and the Ministry of Labour's published calendar is the one to check for the following year.

What is the Christmas salary, and does it concern an owner?

It is owed by employers to their employees. Article 219 of the Labour Code, Law 16-92, entitles each employee to a Christmas salary equal to one twelfth of the ordinary salary earned in the calendar year, paid no later than 20 December. Overtime and profit-sharing are left out of the base, a worker employed for only part of the year receives the proportional share, and the payment is not subject to income tax. In everyday speech it is called the doble sueldo, the double salary, because for a full year it comes to about one extra month's pay.

It explains part of what an owner sees in December: shops are busy, restaurants are full and service companies plan around it. If you employ anyone directly in your home, ask a Dominican lawyer or accountant how the rule applies to that arrangement before December rather than after. If your home is in a managed rental programme, the people who look after it are employed by others, but it is a fair question to ask how the season changes the service.

How does the season run on into January and February?

It does not end on 25 December. New Year's Day is a fixed holiday, and children wait for the Three Kings on 6 January, the traditional day of presents in many homes. Diario Libre also mentions the Vieja Belén, a figure with no fixed date who still brings a present. Then comes 21 January, the day of Our Lady of Altagracia, another fixed holiday.

February belongs to carnival. The tourism ministry describes La Vega, in the centre of the country, as its home, with parades on the Sundays of February from midday to about 5 PM, in which masked diablos cojuelos, limping devils, chase the crowd. The season reaches its patriotic height on 27 February, Independence Day. For an owner who stays from December into February, that makes three months of festivals rather than two weeks of Christmas.

How does Christmas work for an owner at Itza?

Itza Golden Residences is planned as 52 residences in four towers of five levels inside Cap Cana, about 8.4 miles by road from Punta Cana International Airport, the 16-minute drive the development publishes. That short transfer matters in December, when the family arrives on several flights and the holiday rush is at its height. Marina Cap Cana, with its restaurants, is about 3.1 miles away.

For the Nochebuena table itself, Cap Cana's own directory lists a gourmet market at Green Village Plaza, minimarkets at the Las Cañas commercial centre and the marina's Fishing Lodge, a fish market and a liquor shop. Order early: on 24 December everyone is shopping for the same dinner. And if the house will be rented over the holidays rather than used, settle the Christmas weeks with your rental manager first: they are the weeks you will most want to decide early, one way or the other.

Common questions

How is Christmas celebrated in the Dominican Republic?

Mainly on Christmas Eve, Nochebuena, with a family dinner built on pork and a midnight mass. Carol groups called aguinaldos and a secret gift exchange called the angelito are also part of the season.

Is 25 December a public holiday in the Dominican Republic?

Yes, and it is one of the dates Law 139-97 keeps fixed. In 2026 it falls on a Friday.

What is the doble sueldo?

The Christmas salary under article 219 of the Labour Code: one twelfth of the year's ordinary salary, paid to employees no later than 20 December and not subject to income tax.

When is Three Kings' Day in the Dominican Republic?

On 6 January, though the public holiday can move to a Monday: in 2026 it was observed on Monday 5 January.