When is Our Lady of the Angels Day?
In 2026, Our Lady of the Angels Day falls on Sunday, August 2, 2026. It is a Costa Rican statutory holiday. For weekly-paid workers outside commercial activity, the law does not require pay when it is not worked; other pay arrangements may already include it.
History of Our Lady of the Angels Day
August 2 honors the Virgen de los Ángeles, known affectionately as La Negrita and regarded by Catholics as Costa Rica’s patroness. The devotion centers on a small dark stone image associated with a seventeenth-century discovery near Cartago.
The annual Romería brings pilgrims from across Costa Rica and beyond to the Basilica of Our Lady of the Angels in Cartago. Many walk long distances overnight, carrying private prayers of gratitude, hope or petition. The pilgrimage can be a shared national scene while remaining intensely personal for each walker.
Article 148 recognizes August 2 as a statutory holiday, but it is not a holiday with mandatory pay under the Labour Code’s pay distinction. Employers and workers should check the pay modality that applies to their workplace.
Costa Rica’s heritage record dates the devotional tradition to 1635 and treats the small stone image, the Basilica and the pilgrimage as part of the country’s religious memory. The familiar discovery account was transmitted through oral tradition rather than a surviving contemporary report, so it is best presented as the community’s foundational story rather than as an independently documented event.
How Our Lady of the Angels Day is observed
August 2 is a statutory holiday, but not one with mandatory pay for every weekly-paid worker. The Romería pilgrimage to Cartago is its defining tradition.
Traditions of Our Lady of the Angels Day
The Romería
Pilgrims walk to Cartago, sometimes from far across the country, as an act of faith, thanks or petition. Routes become crowded in the days before August 2.
Mass at the Basilica
Services at the Basilica of Our Lady of the Angels bring together pilgrims, parish groups and families who arrive for the feast day.
Promises and offerings
Many walkers carry a personal promise or prayer, making the pilgrimage a private devotion even amid very large public crowds.
Community support
Volunteers, emergency services and local residents support walkers with water, food, medical care and practical help along major routes.
Dates and observance rules are checked against the official Costa Rica Ministry of Labour holiday guidance. Pay treatment depends on the worker’s pay modality; public-sector vacation directives and employer schedules may differ.
History sources: Costa Rica Cultural Heritage: Our Lady of the Angels, Costa Rica Ministry of Labour: public-holiday guidance.
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