All Saints’ Day

All Saints’ Day on November 1 honours the saints in Catholic tradition and is a legal holiday in Wallis and Futuna. It is closely followed by All Souls’ Day on November 2, which is not separately listed in the annual public-holiday order. In local practice, prayer for deceased relatives and attention to family graves can connect the two dates.

Remembering ancestors and maintaining kinship obligations have deep local importance, while Catholic teaching and ritual became embedded in Wallisian and Futunan community life after nineteenth-century missionisation. Cemetery visits and church services therefore combine a universal Catholic feast with family histories tied to particular villages, islands and customary relationships. Not every household follows an identical schedule or devotional practice.

In 2026 November 1 falls on Sunday. It remains the legal holiday date and does not automatically move to Monday, November 2. Sunday worship, cemetery visits, cleaning or decorating graves and family meals may occur according to parish and household custom. Workers whose ordinary rest day is Sunday do not necessarily receive another day automatically; any compensatory arrangement must come from applicable labour rules, a collective agreement or an explicit administrative decision.