What's on in Guatapé, Colombia through the year

Peak crowds — Christmas lights, Year-end holidays in Colombia

Nothing new starts in January.

Still on: Christmas lights (15 Nov – 10 Jan (usually))

Shoulder season — school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it, an ordinary month

Nothing new starts in February.

Peak crowds — Semana Santa, Semana Santa recess in Colombia

• Holiday

  Semana Santa

  29 Mar – 5 AprEaster & Holy WeekCrowdedBook early

  Medellin comes out for Holy Week and Guatape is where a lot of it lands: the town's beds run near full and the queue up the Piedra starts before breakfast. Go on the Wednesday or not at all. Source ↗

Peak crowds — Semana Santa, Semana Santa recess in Colombia

• Season

  First rainy season

  1 Apr – 31 May · usuallyMonsoon

  The heavier of the two wet spells: clear mornings on the reservoir, cloud on the Piedra by two and a downpour after it. Boat trips still run, the view from the 700 steps often does not.

Still on: Semana Santa (29 Mar – 5 Apr)

Shoulder season — an ordinary month

Nothing new starts in May.

Still on: First rainy season (1 Apr – 31 May (usually))

Peak crowds — June long weekends and school break, Mid-year recess in Colombia

• Holiday

  June long weekends and school break

  8 Jun – 15 Jul · usuallySchool holidaysCrowded

  Colombia's mid-year school break and a run of Monday holidays in June send Medellin families out for the weekend, filling the boats, the climb up El Penol and the hotels; weekdays stay calm. Source ↗

Peak crowds — June long weekends and school break, Fiestas de la Virgen del Carmen

• Festival

  Fiestas de la Virgen del Carmen

  16 JulReligious feastCrowded

  The town's patron saint carried through the zocalo streets on 16 July, with a boat procession on the reservoir and a week of music around it. Everything is booked from Medellin beforehand. Source ↗

• Festival

  Feria de las Flores in Medellin

  30 Jul – 12 Aug · usuallyMajor festivalCrowded

  Medellin's flower festival runs for about ten days in early August and closes with the silleteros parade of flower frames carried on farmers' backs; it is roughly two hours from Guatape by bus, and the holiday also sends more visitors to the reservoir. Source ↗

Still on: June long weekends and school break (8 Jun – 15 Jul (usually))

Busy — Feria de las Flores in Medellin

Nothing new starts in August.

Still on: Feria de las Flores in Medellin (30 Jul – 12 Aug (usually))

Shoulder season — school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it, an ordinary month

• Season

  Second rainy season

  15 Sep – 15 Nov · usuallyMonsoon

  The second wet spell of the year is the wetter one for eastern Antioquia, and the reservoir sits under low cloud for days at a time. Prices ease and the town is briefly local again.

Busy — October recess week in Colombia

Nothing new starts in October.

Still on: Second rainy season (15 Sep – 15 Nov (usually))

Peak crowds — Christmas lights, Year-end holidays in Colombia

• Holiday

  Christmas lights

  15 Nov – 10 Jan · usuallyChristmas & New YearCrowded

  Guatape switches its lights on before anywhere else in the region, usually in mid-November, and then holds them until Epiphany. December weekends are the busiest of the year after Holy Week. Source ↗

Still on: Second rainy season (15 Sep – 15 Nov (usually))

Peak crowds — Christmas lights, Year-end holidays in Colombia

Nothing new starts in December.

Still on: Christmas lights (15 Nov – 10 Jan (usually))