Firefighters Memorial in downtown Memphis Tennessee observes Firefighters’ Memorial Day on October 9 and Volunteer Firefighters Week / Rescue Squad Week the first full week in March. Photo by Adam Jones / Flickr (use permitted with attribution/share alike).
Tennessee State Holidays & Days of Observance
In the United States, each of the fifty states has jurisdiction over its own holidays; see American Holidays and State Holidays.
There are ten dates that are proclaimed by the United States as holidays for federal government employees, and most states observe all these holidays on the same dates (commonly called "legal" or "public" holidays). Tennessee has added Good Friday to that standard list:
Tennessee's Legal Holidays
Days of Observance in Tennessee
In addition to "legal" or "public" holidays that are common to most states, Tennessee has many historical and cultural days of observance. From the Tennessee Blue Book; "Pursuant to the provisions of Tenn. Code Ann. §§ 15-2-101 through 15-2-126, each year it shall be the duty of the Governor to proclaim the following as days of special observance."
Robert E. Lee Day | January 19 |
Franklin D. Roosevelt Day | January 30 |
Abraham Lincoln Day | February 12 |
Volunteer Firefighters Week | first full week in March |
Tennessee National Guard Day | March 3 |
Harriet Tubman Day | March 10 |
Andrew Jackson Day | March 15 |
Vietnam Veterans Day | March 29 |
Patriots’ Day | April 19 |
Workers’ Memorial Day | April 28 |
Mothers’ Day | second Sunday in May |
Police Memorial Day | May 11 |
Rescue Squad Week | third full week in May |
Bluegrass Day | fourth Saturday in May |
Statehood Day | June 1 |
Memorial or Confederate Decoration Day | June 3 |
Transverse Myelitis Awareness Day | June 6 |
Lymphedema Awareness Week | third week of June |
John Sevier Day | June 23 |
Wilma Rudolph Day | June 23 |
Scottish, Scots-Irish Heritage Day | June 24 |
Nathan Bedford Forrest Day | July 13 |
Emancipation Day | August 8 |
Family Day | last Sunday in August |
Tennessee and U. S. Constitutions Day | September 17 |
Tennessee POW–MIA Recognition Week | third Friday to following Thursday of September |
Towing and Recovery Week | week of the third Saturday in September |
American Indian Day | fourth Monday in September |
Gold Star Mother’s Day | last Sunday in September |
Firefighters’ Memorial Day | October 9 |
Veterans’ Day | November 11 |
Agriculture Literacy Week | week of the third Thursday in November |