What's on in Bucaramanga, Colombia through the year

Peak crowds — travelers describe it as peak season, Year-end holidays in Colombia

Nothing new starts in January.

Busy — school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it, one of its best months for weather

Nothing new starts in February.

Peak crowds — BucaraSanta at Easter, Semana Santa recess in Colombia

• Holiday

  BucaraSanta at Easter

  20 Mar – 20 Apr · usuallyEaster & Holy WeekClosures

  The culture institute programmes sacred music and processions through Holy Week and much of the city empties towards Santander's small towns and the Chicamocha canyon for the break. Source ↗

Peak crowds — BucaraSanta at Easter, Semana Santa recess in Colombia

• Season

  Hormiga culona season

  1 Apr – 15 Jun · usuallyForaging season

  When the first heavy rains come, winged queen leafcutter ants swarm out of their nests and farmers across Santander gather them to toast and salt. Fresh bags turn up in Bucaramanga's markets and roadside stalls; outside the season you get last year's stock. Source ↗

Still on: BucaraSanta at Easter (20 Mar – 20 Apr (usually))

Quiet — one of its worst months for weather

Nothing new starts in May.

Still on: Hormiga culona season (1 Apr – 15 Jun (usually))

Busy — Mid-year recess in Colombia, school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in June.

Still on: Hormiga culona season (1 Apr – 15 Jun (usually))

Busy — Mid-year recess in Colombia, school holidays in 4 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in July.

Busy — one of its best months for weather

• Festival

  Festival Internacional de Piano UIS

  1 Aug – 30 Sep · usuallyMusic festival

  One of Latin America's longest-running piano festivals, run by the Universidad Industrial de Santander for two weeks or so, with many concerts free. Recent editions have fallen anywhere from early August to late September. Source ↗

Busy — Feria Bonita, school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it

• Festival

  Feria Bonita

  3–13 SepMajor festivalCrowded

  The city's own fair: a parade of the picó sound systems, another of vintage cars, free concerts at the Américo Montanini stadium and roughly a fortnight when the centre's hotels are worth booking ahead. Source ↗

Still on: Festival Internacional de Piano UIS (1 Aug – 30 Sep (usually))

Busy — October recess week in Colombia

• Hazard

  Second-rains landslides

  1 Oct – 30 Nov · usuallyLandslide seasonClosures

  October and November bring the year's second and heavier rains, and landslides regularly close or restrict the mountain roads to Bogota, Pamplona and the Magdalena valley. Leave slack in overland plans. Source ↗

Busy — Year-end holidays in Colombia

Nothing new starts in November.

Still on: Second-rains landslides (1 Oct – 30 Nov (usually))

Peak crowds — Navidad en la Ciudad, Year-end holidays in Colombia

• Festival

  Navidad en la Ciudad

  1–22 Dec · usuallyChristmas & New YearCrowded

  The culture institute programmes more than fifty events through December: Nine Novenas in Nine Parks in the first half of the month, then Festival 1622 the week before Christmas. It is the one stretch of the year the centre is a place people walk at night for its own sake. Source ↗