São Tomé Day 2023, 2024 and 2025

São Tomé Day falls on 21 December each year to  commemorate the discovery of the island of São Tomé by Portuguese explorers in the year 1470.

Year	Date	Day	Holiday
2023	21 Dec	Thu	São Tomé Day
2024	21 Dec	Sat	São Tomé Day
2025	21 Dec	Sun	São Tomé Day
2026	21 Dec	Mon	São Tomé Day
Please scroll down to end of page for previous years' dates.

December 21 was the date of the Roman Catholic feast of Saint Thomas’ Day in the century the island was discovered, and the naming of the island São Tomé – which is Portuguese for “Saint Thomas” – is based on discovering it this day. In the liturgical calendar, the date for Saint Thomas’ Day was later moved to 3 July.

When the Portuguese found São Tomé, there were already some inhabitants on it. But they quickly began to settle the island and to build a commercial port to facilitate trade with mainland Africa. From there, the importance of the colony of São Tomé and Príncipe grew, even as the oppression of slavery also grew.

Finally, in 1975, São Tomé and Príncipe gained their independence from Portugal. But the country still looks back to the time of its discovery by Portugal as a momentous date in its history.

On São Tomé Day, the president of the country gives a major speech, and then, there is a huge party with singing, dancing, and feasting.

Previous Years

Year	Date	Day	Holiday
2022	21 Dec	Wed	São Tomé Day
2021	21 Dec	Tue	São Tomé Day
2020	21 Dec	Mon	São Tomé Day
2019	21 Dec	Sat	São Tomé Day
2018	21 Dec	Fri	São Tomé Day
2017	21 Dec	Thu	São Tomé Day