What's on in La Paz, Bolivia through the year

Shoulder season — school holidays in 4 of the markets that fill it, an ordinary month

• Festival

  Alasitas

  24 Jan – 15 FebMajor festival

  The fair of miniatures opens at noon on 24 January and runs for weeks: you buy a tiny house, a tiny truck or a tiny degree certificate, have it blessed, and wait a year. It takes over the parks. Source ↗

Still on: Altiplano rainy season (1 Dec – 31 Mar (usually))

Busy — Carnaval and the ch'alla, school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it

• Holiday

  Carnaval and the ch'alla

  13–18 FebCarnivalClosures

  Two national holidays, water bombs in the street for days beforehand and the ch'alla, when households bless the house with alcohol and streamers. Offices and many restaurants shut for the week. Source ↗

Still on: Alasitas (24 Jan – 15 Feb), Altiplano rainy season (1 Dec – 31 Mar (usually))

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

Nothing new starts in March.

Still on: Carnaval and the ch'alla (13–18 Feb), Altiplano rainy season (1 Dec – 31 Mar (usually))

Busy — one of its best months for weather

Nothing new starts in April.

Busy — Fiesta del Gran Poder

• Season

  Altiplano dry season

  1 May – 30 Sep · usually

  Bright still days, hard frost overnight and the Illimani in view from most of the city. It is the reliable half of the year and the only sensible window for the Cordillera Real.

• Festival

  Fiesta del Gran Poder

  20 May – 20 Jun · usuallyMajor festivalCrowdedClosures

  Tens of thousands of dancers in heavy costume take the streets for a full day, at nearly 3,700 metres, in the biggest folkloric entrada of the year. The date moves with Trinity and is announced late. Source ↗

Busy — Fiesta del Gran Poder, school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it

• Festival

  Aymara New Year

  21 JunMajor festival

  The winter solstice is a national holiday and the sunrise is met at Tiwanaku and at a dozen sites around the city. It is bitterly cold at dawn and the buses out leave around midnight. Source ↗

Still on: Altiplano dry season (1 May – 30 Sep (usually)), Fiesta del Gran Poder (20 May – 20 Jun (usually))

Shoulder season — school holidays in 4 of the markets that fill it, an ordinary month

Nothing new starts in July.

Still on: Altiplano dry season (1 May – 30 Sep (usually))

Shoulder season — an ordinary month

Nothing new starts in August.

Still on: Altiplano dry season (1 May – 30 Sep (usually))

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

Nothing new starts in September.

Still on: Altiplano dry season (1 May – 30 Sep (usually))

Shoulder season — an ordinary month

Nothing new starts in October.

Busy — one of its best months for weather

Nothing new starts in November.

Quiet — school holidays in 4 of the markets that fill it, one of its worst months for weather

• Season

  Altiplano rainy season

  1 Dec – 31 Mar · usuallyMonsoonRisk

  Rain and hail arrive most afternoons and the steep streets run as rivers; the worst weeks bring mudslides on the slopes above the city and shut a road or two. Mornings are usually clear.