Guyana declares two public holidays as Deepavali falls on Sunday

Guyana will observe two public holidays in November after Deepavali falls on a Sunday: Sunday 8 November 2026 and the following Monday 9 November 2026 have both been declared public holidays. The declaration was made by Minister of Home Affairs Oneidge Walrond under sections 3(1) and 3(2) of the Public Holidays Act, Chapter 19:07, and published in the Official Gazette of Guyana of Saturday 17 October 2026 (No. 399/2026), Legal Supplement B, page 1059.

The instrument is headed “Notification made under the Public Holidays Act (Cap 19:07)” and is listed in the gazette’s table of contents as “Notification — Public Holidays Act (Deepavali)”. It is dated 12 October 2026 and signed by the minister under the authority of the Ministry of Home Affairs. The same Legal Supplement carried Order No. 188 of 2026, the Sea and River Defence Act 2024 (Commencement) Order 2026, while the supplement’s Acts and Bills sections were both recorded as nil.

Two consecutive days declared

The notification declares both dates in a single instrument, with the second day following directly from the calendar position of the festival:

• Sunday 8 November 2026 — declared a public holiday, being the date on which Deepavali falls.
• Monday 9 November 2026 — declared a public holiday because Deepavali falls on a Sunday.
• Legal basis — sections 3(1) and 3(2) of the Public Holidays Act, Chapter 19:07, of the Laws of Guyana.
• Signature — Hon. Oneidge Walrond, Minister of Home Affairs, Ministry of Home Affairs, dated 12 October 2026.

The text states that “pursuant to the provisions of sections 3 (1) and 3 (2) of the Public Holidays Act, Chapter 19:07, of the Laws of Guyana, Sunday November 8, 2026 is hereby declared a public holiday”, and then adds that “as Deepavali falls on a Sunday, the following day Monday November 9, 2026 is declared a public holiday”.

Publication in the Legal Supplement

The declaration appears on page 1059 of the Legal Supplement to the Official Gazette of Guyana issued on Saturday 17 October 2026, five days after the instrument was signed. The gazette itself is numbered 399/2026 and carries the imprint of Guyana National Printers Limited, 1 Public Road, La Penitence, Greater Georgetown, which publishes the paper every Saturday and on such extraordinary days as the Government may direct.

The notification is confined to the declaration itself: it names no exemptions, sets no conditions and attaches no sector-specific arrangements. Its operative effect rests entirely on the two dates it names and on the statutory provisions it invokes.

What the notice does not change

No other holiday is created or moved by the instrument, and the gazette records no amendment to the schedule of the Public Holidays Act. The only calendar consequence published is the addition of the Monday, which exists solely because the festival date coincides with the weekly Sunday.

The notice also leaves untouched the separate commencement instrument published alongside it, Order No. 188 of 2026, which brought the Sea and River Defence Act 2024 into operation on 7 October 2026 and was signed by the Minister of Public Works.

Why it matters

The declaration fixes two consecutive non-working days in the second week of November 2026, a fortnight that will now run from a Sunday holiday into a Monday holiday. For anyone planning travel, payroll, deliveries or statutory deadlines in that period, the operative dates are 8 and 9 November 2026, as published in the Official Gazette of Guyana of 17 October 2026.

Source: Official Gazette of Guyana, No. 399/2026, 17 October 2026, Legal Supplement B, p. 1059 (official reference: Notification — Public Holidays Act (Deepavali), Cap. 19:07).