For the most part in the USVI and BVI businesses are open Monday to Saturday 8am-5pm, and shops , museums and historic sights Monday to Saturday 9am-5pm. On the USVI bank opening hours are Mon-Fri 9am-3pm, and some open Saturday morning; BVI banks close slightly earlier at around 2.30pm. Government buildings are open 9am-5pm weekdays. Always call ahead to make sure your destination is open, especially in the off-season. Both the USVI and the BVI celebrate local public holidays as well as many of the holidays celebrated in their mother countries. The government and banks close for major holidays, but stores, restaurants and tourist attractions generally stay open. The main cultural event to look out for in the Virgin Islands is Carnival - a couple of weeks of costumed street parades including mocko jumbies (stilt walkers), calypso and steelpan bands, street stalls and all-night partying and dancing. St Thomas Carnival - the second largest in the Caribbean after Trinidad - takes place the last two weeks in April. Some other Virgin Islands have mini-carnivals - Virgin Gorda's is in mid-February and St John's the first few days of July - and if you happen to be in the BVI the last two weeks of July you'll be swept along in the nightly entertainment and music of the BVI Summer Festival .
USVI
January 1 New Year's Day
January 6 Three Kings' Day
January Martin Luther King Jr's Birthday (third Mon)
Third Monday in February Presidents' Day
March 31 Transfer Day
March/April Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Easter Monday
Last Monday in May Memorial Day
July 3 Emancipation Day
July 4 Independence Day
July Supplication Day (date varies)
First Monday in September Labour Day
Second Monday in October Columbus Day
November 1 Liberty Day
November 11 Veteran's Day
Fourth Thursday In November Thanksgiving Day
December 25 Christmas Day
December 26 Boxing Day
BVI
January 1 New Year's Day
March 11 Commonwealth Day
March/April Good Friday, Easter Monday
May/June Whit Monday
June 11 Queen's Birthday
July 1 Territory Day
August BVI August Festival Days
October 22 St Ursula's Day
November 12 Birthday of Heir to the Throne
December 25 Christmas Day
December 26 Boxing Day
