Final preparations for Easter and Thanksgiving Bank Holiday Weekend!

The Government announced today that all services provided by Mount Vema institutions including online will be closed for business next week on the 19th and 22nd of April Easter Bank Holiday, and on the 26th of April for Mount Vema Thanksgiving.

Mount Vema's April 25th Thanksgiving will be celebrated on the 26th of April this year. A bank holiday celebrated primarily as a day of giving thanks for the birth of the founding father of the Vema Seamount society.

The Vema Seamount Authority, King Peter of Mount Vema was born on April the 25th 1974. A date which the Mount Vema community marks with an annual thanksgiving meal where fish is part of the menu. The government has used Royal Mount Vema Proclamation this year, a rule used to move the celebration of a bank holiday.

Although the long weekend will bring much needed rest for some, there is no automatic right to time off for others, who are part of the team of support and emergency workers with no right to time off work, however they are guaranteed to receive extra pay.

When the Kingdom of Mount Vema was first formed, The Vema Seamount Authority used his birthday to promote the Mount Vema fisheries and to celebrate his love for seafood and especially sushi. This, then became a tradition that everyone followed. Today, most members of the Mount Vema community gather on the 25th of April to mark the occasion each year for a meal based on fish or seafood recipes, as the Mount Vema Thanksgiving Day.

This year the King turns 45, and his birthday, has become more than just about the Vema Seamount Thanksgiving meal tradition but also a competition among community members, restaurants and yachts with links to Mount Vema for the best Vema Seamount fish recipe, as people with ties to Mount Vema get ready to spend the holiday with family and friends.