Independence Day is a public holiday in Saint Lucia, observed on February 22 each year. The holiday commemorates the anniversary of Saint Lucia's independence from the United Kingdom in 1979.
Saint Lucia is an island country in the Caribbean Sea. Indigenous people inhabited the island for centuries before Christopher Columbus first sighted it in 1502 on his fourth voyage. In the 1550s, the French pirate François le Clerc became the first European who settled on the island. He established camps on Pigeon Island and attached the passing Spanish ships. The French, English, and Dutch attempted to settle on the island in the following years, but the local Caribs aggressively wiped them out.
The French successfully settled on the island in 1660 after signing a treaty with the Caribs. In the following 150 years, the French and the British were both interested in the island, and it changed hands between the two countries many times until 1814, when the British eventually acquired it.
In 1958, Saint Lucia joined the West Indies Federation, which collapsed in 1962. Saint Lucia became a state in free association with the United Kingdom in 1967 and was granted internal self-government. In 1979, Saint Lucia gained full independence.
The following is the list of Independence Day in Saint Lucia from 2022 to 2026.
Holiday | Date | Weekday |
---|---|---|
Independence Day | Feb 22, 2022 | Tuesday |
Independence Day | Feb 22, 2023 | Wednesday |
Independence Day | Feb 22, 2024 | Thursday |
Independence Day | Feb 22, 2025 | Saturday |
Independence Day | Feb 22, 2026 | Sunday |
Please check more public holidays in Saint Lucia: