What's on in Guatemala City, Guatemala through the year

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

• Hazard

  Volcanic activity

  1 Jan – 31 Dec

  Fuego erupts more or less constantly forty kilometres west and Pacaya is closer still. A big enough ash column has shut La Aurora airport for a day at a time, and neither volcano keeps to a season. Source ↗

Still on: Dry season (1 Nov – 30 Apr (usually))

Busy — one of its best months for weather

Nothing new starts in February.

Still on: Volcanic activity (1 Jan – 31 Dec), Dry season (1 Nov – 30 Apr (usually))

Busy — Semana Santa, school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it

• Holiday

  Semana Santa

  29 Mar – 5 AprEaster & Holy WeekClosures

  The capital empties for the week — to Antigua, to the coast, to Atitlán — and the processions that stay are in Zona 1. Offices and banks shut from the Thursday and the traffic, for once, is bearable. Source ↗

Still on: Volcanic activity (1 Jan – 31 Dec), Dry season (1 Nov – 30 Apr (usually))

Busy — Semana Santa

Nothing new starts in April.

Still on: Volcanic activity (1 Jan – 31 Dec), Semana Santa (29 Mar – 5 Apr), Dry season (1 Nov – 30 Apr (usually))

Quiet — one of its worst months for weather

Nothing new starts in May.

Still on: Volcanic activity (1 Jan – 31 Dec)

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

Nothing new starts in June.

Still on: Volcanic activity (1 Jan – 31 Dec)

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

Nothing new starts in July.

Still on: Volcanic activity (1 Jan – 31 Dec)

Busy — Feria de Jocotenango, school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it

• Festival

  Feria de Jocotenango

  10–20 Aug · usuallyMajor festivalCrowdedClosures

  The capital's patron day on the fifteenth is a public holiday in Guatemala City and nowhere else in the country, with a fairground and rides at the Hipódromo del Norte for a week around it. Source ↗

Still on: Volcanic activity (1 Jan – 31 Dec)

Busy — Independence Day, school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it

• Holiday

  Independence Day

  14–15 SepNational holidayClosuresCrowded

  Torch relays run into the capital along the highways through the evening of the fourteenth and the school bands take the avenues the next morning. Everything shuts and the intercity buses run full either side. Source ↗

Still on: Volcanic activity (1 Jan – 31 Dec)

Shoulder season — an ordinary month

Nothing new starts in October.

Still on: Volcanic activity (1 Jan – 31 Dec)

Shoulder season — an ordinary month

• Season

  Dry season

  1 Nov – 30 Apr · usually

  The rains stop dead rather than tailing off and the volcanoes on the southern skyline come back into view. It is also when the valley traps its own traffic smoke on a still morning.

Still on: Volcanic activity (1 Jan – 31 Dec)

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

• Festival

  Quema del Diablo

  7 DecMajor festivalRisk

  At six on the evening of the seventh, households burn rubbish and a papier-mâché devil outside the front door to clear the year out. The smoke sits over the valley for the rest of the night. Source ↗

Still on: Volcanic activity (1 Jan – 31 Dec), Dry season (1 Nov – 30 Apr (usually))