Public holidays in Entropan

In Entropan, public holidays are days on which most businesses and non-essential services are closed, and the entire working population (excluding those working in essential services). Public holidays defined by statute of the National Council with particular restrictions against trading, work, banks, and business operation are called state holidays, but this term can also be used to include bank holidays, which are holidays held by convention. The term "public holidays" can also refer exclusively to bank holidays.

Public holidays are chosen because of their historical, religious, cultural, or what is called 'non-denominational' significance (summer, spring, and autumn breaks), and, as of the Participatory Transition, each state holiday is chosen by referendum.

There are twelve state holidays common across all of Entropan, and, due to devolution, there is an extra holiday in Rockrsea, called 'Ma. Kristan's Day', celebrating Rockr history on the day of the birth of famed Rockr martyr Kristan ended conflict between the Kingdom of Rockrsea and the Kingdom of Leinta through the Treaty of Spring.

History

The first state holiday in Entropan was put into statute during the Second Republic of Entropan, where the general strike held in 1907 held by the Charterist National Trade Union succeeded in some of the 10 Demands of the People's Movement 1905, including the establishment of Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter Holidays, where, according to the bill proposed by Social Democratic MP Mads Lura entitled the State Holidays Act of 1907, all workers would be entitled to 3-day breaks in Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter.

State Holidays in Entropan 1907

Holiday	Date Start	Date End
Spring Holiday	21 March	24 March
Summer Holiday	25 June	28 June
Autumn Holiday	17 September	20 September
Winter Holiday	1 December	4 December

For the next couple of decades, these holidays were the only state holidays of Entropan, until 1947, where the 1944 Coalition Government unleashed a slew of bills regarding the official recognition of religious and non-denominational holidays, as well as amending the previous 1907 bill to provide more specific and wider instructions in regards to business operation during these holidays. After this, Entropan sat at 10 state holidays, with 2 more, as well as the Rockrsea-only state holiday, being added after the Participatory Transition due to referendums held on the subject.

Future

There have been calls for extra holidays recognising other Martyrs of Entropan, including Uryho's two official martyrs Esta and Ukluk, but no petition to the Uryho Government has reached the 50,000 signatures necessary to make it eligible for referendum, with the closest a petition has got to officially calling a referendum being one published on May 2nd 2023, which received 45,623 signatures.

There are official calls for the creation of a holiday celebrating New Year's Day, New Year's Eve, and the traditionally celebrated First Day (January 3rd), as well as the official recognition of 'Ma. Kristan's Day' across the entirety of Entropan, but those issues have yet to receive attention from mainstream political parties.

Legal Basis

State holidays are established in a variety of ways:

• by statute (statutory holidays) - State holidays specifically stated in law passed by the National Council.
• by national referendum – Under the Entropanian Constitution, state holidays are proclaimed each year by the legal device of petitions that receive 100,000 signatures nationwide.
• by regional referendum - Under the Entropanian Constitution, state holidays are proclaimed in specific regions of Entropan if citizens of that particular region start a petition that receives 50,000 signatures.
• by convention (bank holidays) - Holidays established in common law.

Statute is also used to move state holidays that would otherwise fall on a weekend and to create extra one-off state holidays for special occasions. State holidays proclaimed by national or regional referenda cannot be suppressed by statute, but state holidays proclaimed by statute can be suppressed by national or regional referenda prompted by sufficiently popular petitions. Bank holidays falling on a weekend are always moved to a later date, not an earlier one.

Dates in Entropan

Date	Occasion	Type	Notes	Region
				Rest of Entropan	Rockrsea
18 January	Boxing Day	Established via National Referendum	Falls on 18 January unless this is a Saturday or Sunday. 18 January was not a state holiday before the 28th of January 2023. In a year in which it does not occur on 18 January, it can be referred to (as for all such dates in lieu) in various ways, such as "Monday bank holiday instead of Boxing Day".
12 February	Ma. Kristan's Day	Established via Regional Referendum	The only region-specific state holiday, only in Rockrsea. Celebrates the life of Ma. Kristan, who brought an end to the conflict between the Kingdom of Rockrsea and the Kingdom of Leinta.
21/22/23 March	Spring Holiday	Statutory	24/25/26 March by statute if any of the usual days fall on a Friday, a Sunday, or a Saturday.
Variable	Easter	Common law, partly statutory	Optional holiday for the week 'after the full moon' for Christians, with 3 statutory holidays on Easter Sunday, Good Friday, and Easter Monday.
First Monday in May	Early May state holiday	Statutory	From 1988, by statute.
Last Monday in May	Summer Half-Term Monday State Holiday	Statutory	Statutory state holiday from 1998. Most schools fix a minimum of a week's break to coincide, giving the alternative name. The legislation does not specify a name for the holiday, merely when it occurs. It normally falls on the last Monday in May, but
25/26/27 June	Summer Holiday	Statutory	28/29/30 by statute if any of the usual days fall on a Friday, a Sunday, or a Saturday.
9/10/11 July	Unification Day	Statutory	Celebrates the end of the Wars of the Two Kingdoms. The largest holiday in Entropanian calender, with nationwide patriotic celebrations.
23 July	Labour Day	Established by National Referendum	Celebrates the day of the beginning of the 1907 Entropanian General Strike, generally used to celebrate labour struggles across Entropan.
Last Monday of August	Late Summer State Holiday	Statutory	Statutory state holiday from 1987, replaced the previous date that had it on the first Monday of August due to the recent establishment of Labour Day.
17/18/19 September	Autumn Holiday	Statutory	20/21/22 by statute if any of the usual days fall on a Friday, a Sunday, or a Saturday
1/2/3 December	Winter Holiday	Statutory	4/5/6 by statute if any of the usual days fall on a Friday, a Sunday, or a Saturday.
24-27 December	Christmas Break	Statutory	Established in 2001.
Total holidays				12	13