There are a large number of Croatian holidays that are connected with Catholic holidays.

Christmas and Easter are big holidays when people get a few days free. Children get three weeks off school for Christmas and ten days for Easter.

Croatian places have their parishes. Each parish has a church that is named after a saint. During the year, one day in the calendar belongs to each saint. When that day comes, parish celebrates the day of their saint and they have big feasts.

In sea parts of Croatia those holidays are called “fešta”, and in the continental parts it’s called “kirvaj”. Each family from the parish makes a big feast with lots of food and drinks, and their friends come and celebrate with them. In some places, there are even small carnivals with travelling carousels.

National holidays that are not religious holidays are New Year’s Day (January 1st), International Labor Day (May 1st), Croatian Statehood Day (May 30th), Antifascist Uprising Day (June 22nd), and the Day of National Gratitude (August 5th). On these days, people don’t have to go to work or school.

Online Croatian lessons for kids: dinolingo.com