What's on in Mexico City (CDMX), Mexico through the year

Peak crowds — the editor's peak month, school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it

• Festival

  Dia de Reyes

  5–6 JanMajor festival

  Sweet bread shared on 6 January with a figure baked inside, and whoever finds it owes tamales in February. The bakeries queue round the block on the fifth. Source ↗

Peak crowds — the editor's peak month

• Nature

  Jacaranda bloom

  20 Feb – 10 Apr · usually

  Roma, Condesa and the avenues out to San Angel go purple for six weeks, usually from the end of February. The trees are not native; a Japanese gardener planted them in the 1930s. Source ↗

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

• Hazard

  Ozone alert season

  1 Mar – 31 MaySmoke season

  Still, sunny, rainless weeks in the basin cook the traffic exhaust into ozone, and the city declares contingencies that pull cars off the road. It clears the day the rains start. Source ↗

• Holiday

  Semana Santa

  29 Mar – 5 AprEaster & Holy WeekClosures

  The capital empties for the week as families head to the coast, which makes it the easiest the traffic ever gets. Many small restaurants close with them. Source ↗

Still on: Jacaranda bloom (20 Feb – 10 Apr (usually))

Peak crowds — the editor's peak month, Semana Santa

Nothing new starts in April.

Still on: Jacaranda bloom (20 Feb – 10 Apr (usually)), Ozone alert season (1 Mar – 31 May), Semana Santa (29 Mar – 5 Apr)

Shoulder season — between the peaks

• Season

  Afternoon storm season

  25 May – 10 OctMonsoonRisk

  Bright mornings, a heavy storm in the late afternoon, and clean air behind it. Plan the outdoor half of the day before three o'clock and the city works perfectly well.

Still on: Ozone alert season (1 Mar – 31 May)

Shoulder season — between the peaks, school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in June.

Still on: Afternoon storm season (25 May – 10 Oct)

Quiet — the editor's quiet month, school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in July.

Still on: Afternoon storm season (25 May – 10 Oct)

Quiet — the editor's quiet month, school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in August.

Still on: Afternoon storm season (25 May – 10 Oct)

Busy — El Grito, school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it

• Festival

  El Grito

  15–16 SepMajor festivalCrowdedClosures

  The Zocalo fills on the night of the fifteenth for the shout from the balcony, and the military parade takes the Reforma the next morning. Source ↗

Still on: Afternoon storm season (25 May – 10 Oct)

Busy — between the peaks, Mexico City Grand Prix

• Nature

  Cempasuchil in the markets

  15 Oct – 2 Nov · usuallyMajor festival

  Orange marigolds arrive by the truckload for the altars, and the fields at Xochimilco and Tlahuac are worth the trip out before they are cut. Source ↗

• Festival

  Mexico City Grand Prix

  30 Oct – 1 NovMotorsport weekendCrowdedBook early

  Three days at the Autodromo at the end of October, overlapping Day of the Dead in most years. Between the two, that fortnight is the hardest of the year to book. Source ↗

• Festival

  Day of the Dead

  31 Oct – 2 NovMajor festivalCrowdedBook early

  Altars everywhere, a parade down Reforma that the city invented for a film, and the older, quieter version out in Mixquic and the southern boroughs. Source ↗

Still on: Afternoon storm season (25 May – 10 Oct)

Peak crowds — the editor's peak month, Mexico City Grand Prix

Nothing new starts in November.

Still on: Cempasuchil in the markets (15 Oct – 2 Nov (usually)), Mexico City Grand Prix (30 Oct – 1 Nov), Day of the Dead (31 Oct – 2 Nov)

Peak crowds — the editor's peak month, Virgin of Guadalupe pilgrimage

• Festival

  Virgin of Guadalupe pilgrimage

  11–12 DecPilgrimage seasonCrowded

  Around ten million people reach the basilica in the north of the city over two days, many of them walking in from other states. Traffic on that side is written off. Source ↗

• Festival

  Las Posadas

  16–24 DecChristmas & New Year

  Nine nights of neighbourhood processions, punch and broken pinatas before Christmas. It happens on residential streets rather than in the centre, so you have to be invited or lucky. Source ↗