See Labor Day Closures, Delays In MA For 2023 Holiday Weekend

MASSACHUSETTS — Summer is over, at least in the cultural sense. The fall equinox isn't until Sept. 23, and it's still pretty hot out, but Labor Day signals the start of the new school year and the end of summer leisure.

As state residents head out on final summer vacations and host barbecues, it's important to know what will be open and closed in Massachusetts on Labor Day.

• Retail stores: Typically open
• Liquor stores: Allowed to open in Massachusetts
• Supermarkets: Open, except Costco
• Convenience stores: Open
• Restaurants, bars: Open
• Banks: Closed
• Libraries: Closed
• Stock market: Closed
• Municipal, state, federal offices: Closed
• Mail: Post offices closed; express delivery only
• MBTA: Subways and buses on Sunday schedule; commuter rail on weekend schedule
• Local transit: Check regional transit authority schedules here
• Sumner Tunnel: Open!
• Trash and Recycling: Typically delayed one day — so if you usually have a Tuesday, pickup, it'll be pushed to Wednesday and so forth.

The history of Labor Day

The first Labor Day holiday was celebrated in 1882, with a parade in New York City, but the question of who first proposed the idea of a holiday to honor workers is in dispute more than a century later.

in Chicago. The strike led to sending federal troops into the city to quell rioters. Just days later, President Grover Cleveland signed a law making Labor Day, the first Monday of September, a national holiday.

Massachusetts has one of the largest Labor Day parades in the nation. Marlborough's large event dates back to the post-World War II era and has been held every year since — except in 2020.