What's on in Buenos Aires (BA), Argentina through the year

Quiet — the editor's quiet month, January summer shutdown

• Hazard

  Summer heat and humidity

  1 Jan – 25 Feb · usuallyExtreme heat

  River-plate humidity on top of the heat, and the porteños who can afford to have gone to the coast. Museums and cafés run cold; walking Palermo at three in the afternoon does not work. Source ↗

Still on: January summer shutdown (24 Dec – 1 Feb (usually))

Quiet — the editor's quiet month, Carnival

• Holiday

  Carnival

  16–17 FebClosures

  Two public holidays and murga groups drumming through the outer neighbourhoods rather than the centre. It is a local, suburban carnival, not a Rio-scale one, and much of the city takes the long weekend away. Source ↗

Still on: Summer heat and humidity (1 Jan – 25 Feb (usually)), January summer shutdown (24 Dec – 1 Feb (usually))

Busy — between the peaks, Summer holidays in Argentina

Nothing new starts in March.

Still on: Carnival (16–17 Feb)

Busy — between the peaks, Feria del Libro

• Nature

  Autumn in the plane trees

  15 Apr – 5 Jun · usuallyAutumn colour

  The plátanos along the avenues and through Palermo turn and drop over about six weeks. It is the quiet half of the city's two good seasons, and the cafés put the tables back outside for it.

• Festival

  Feria del Libro

  22 Apr – 12 May · usuallyMajor festivalCrowded

  The largest book fair in the Spanish-speaking world takes over La Rural for three weeks, and the city fills with readings and queues that have nothing to do with tourism. Source ↗

Quiet — the editor's quiet month, Feria del Libro

Nothing new starts in May.

Still on: Autumn in the plane trees (15 Apr – 5 Jun (usually)), Feria del Libro (22 Apr – 12 May (usually))

Quiet — the editor's quiet month, school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in June.

Still on: Autumn in the plane trees (15 Apr – 5 Jun (usually))

Quiet — the editor's quiet month, Winter holidays and 9 de Julio

• Holiday

  Winter holidays and 9 de Julio

  5–25 Jul · usuallySchool holidaysCrowded

  Two weeks of school holidays around Independence Day on the 9th: theatres run children's shows, domestic flights to Bariloche sell out and the city's own hotels are cheaper than the mountains. Source ↗

Quiet — the editor's quiet month, Tango BA Festival and World Cup

• Festival

  Tango BA Festival and World Cup

  10–25 Aug · usuallyMajor festivalCrowded

  Two weeks of free classes, milongas and the world championship finals in the middle of the coldest month, which is exactly when the milongas are at their best anyway. Source ↗

Busy — between the peaks, Students' Day

• Festival

  Students' Day

  21 SepMajor festivalCrowded

  The first day of spring and a day off school, which puts every teenager in the city into the parks with a guitar and a picnic. Palermo's woods are unusable and cheerful. Source ↗

Shoulder season — between the peaks

• Nature

  Jacaranda in flower

  20 Oct – 30 Nov · usually

  Whole avenues turn blue for about three weeks, usually starting in the first week of November and best around the middle of the month. The peak moves a fortnight either way with the spring, so nobody can book it exactly. Source ↗

Peak crowds — the editor's peak month

• Festival

  Día de la Tradición

  13–15 NovMajor festival

  Gauchos ride into San Antonio de Areco, two hours out on the pampas, for a weekend of horsemanship, asado and folk music around the poet José Hernández's birthday on 10 November. It has run since 1939. Source ↗

Still on: Jacaranda in flower (20 Oct – 30 Nov (usually))

Peak crowds — the editor's peak month, January summer shutdown

• Holiday

  January summer shutdown

  24 Dec – 1 Feb · usuallySchool holidaysClosures

  Porteños go to the coast and much of the city closes with them: theatres dark, neighbourhood restaurants shuttered, and the streets emptier than at any other point in the year. Source ↗