Handle not requiring the locale off the bat.

data/build_defs.rb

@@ -134,7 +134,6 @@ EOM
   unless test_strs.empty?
     test_src =<<-EndOfTests
 require File.dirname(__FILE__) + '/../test_helper'
-require 'holidays/#{module_name.downcase}'
 
 # This file is generated by the Ruby Holiday gem.
 #

lib/holidays.rb

@@ -83,6 +83,8 @@ module Holidays
   #   => [{:name => 'Canada Day', :regions => [:ca]...}
   #       {:name => 'Independence Day'', :regions => [:us], ...}]
   def self.between(start_date, end_date, *options)
+    start_date = start_date.to_date if start_date.respond_to?(:to_date)
+    end_date = end_date.to_date if end_date.respond_to?(:to_date)
     regions, observed, informal = parse_options(options)
     holidays = []
 
@@ -257,8 +259,7 @@ private
 
     regions.flatten!
 
-    raise UnknownRegionError unless regions.all? { |r| r == :any or @@regions.include?(r) }
-
+    raise UnknownRegionError unless regions.all? { |r| r == :any or @@regions.include?(r) or begin require "holidays/#{r.to_s}"; rescue LoadError; false; end }
     regions
   end