All Saints’ Day

All Saints’ Day on November 1 honours the saints in Catholic and some other Christian traditions. Benin’s 1990 law includes it among legal paid non-working holidays. It is distinct from All Souls’ Day on November 2, although family remembrance and cemetery visits can connect the two dates in local practice.

Catholic communities may celebrate Mass and remember models of faithful life, while families clean or decorate graves and pray for deceased relatives around the same period. Christian denominations differ in their theology and calendar, and members of other religions do not necessarily participate. Beninese remembrance also operates through varied family, lineage and religious understandings that should not be collapsed into one supposedly universal ritual.

November 1 falls on Sunday in 2026. Benin’s holiday system does not automatically move every fixed Sunday holiday to Monday, so November 1 remains the statutory date unless the government issues a specific contrary notice. Workers who normally rest on Sunday do not automatically gain an extra Monday solely from the calendar entry. Churches and cemeteries may be busy, while health, security, transport and other continuous services maintain operations.