What's on in Montevideo, Uruguay through the year

Peak crowds — Uruguayan carnival, New Year on the rambla

• Festival

  Uruguayan carnival

  22 Jan – 8 MarCrowded

  The longest carnival anywhere: forty days of murga competing nightly in neighbourhood tablados from late January, opened by a parade down 18 de Julio. It is a season, not a weekend. Source ↗

Still on: Rambla and beach season (1 Dec – 15 Mar (usually)), New Year on the rambla (31 Dec – 1 Jan)

Peak crowds — Uruguayan carnival, Desfile de Llamadas

• Festival

  Desfile de Llamadas

  6–7 FebCarnivalCrowded

  Two nights of candombe drumming down Isla de Flores through Barrio Sur and Palermo, three thousand drums deep. Balcony seats on the street are sold and the rest is standing. Source ↗

Still on: Uruguayan carnival (22 Jan – 8 Mar), Rambla and beach season (1 Dec – 15 Mar (usually))

Peak crowds — Uruguayan carnival, Semana de Turismo

• Holiday

  Semana de Turismo

  29 Mar – 5 AprEaster & Holy WeekClosures

  Uruguay takes Holy Week off under a secular name and leaves town; the capital is shut and quiet while the Criolla del Prado runs gaucho rodeo at the fairground. Banks and offices close all week. Source ↗

Still on: Uruguayan carnival (22 Jan – 8 Mar), Rambla and beach season (1 Dec – 15 Mar (usually))

Busy — Semana de Turismo

Nothing new starts in April.

Still on: Semana de Turismo (29 Mar – 5 Apr)

Shoulder season — an ordinary month

Nothing new starts in May.

Quiet — school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it, one of its worst months for weather

• Season

  Winter on the rambla

  1 Jun – 31 Aug · usuallyOff-season shutdown

  Damp, grey and windy off the river, with the beaches empty and the city entirely its own. Theatre and tango bars run their proper season and rooms are at their cheapest.

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

Nothing new starts in July.

Still on: Winter on the rambla (1 Jun – 31 Aug (usually))

Quiet — one of its worst months for weather

Nothing new starts in August.

Still on: Winter on the rambla (1 Jun – 31 Aug (usually))

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

• Festival

  Dia del Patrimonio

  28 Sep – 12 Oct · usuallyMajor festival

  One weekend when several hundred buildings normally shut to the public open their doors free, from the Palacio Legislativo to private houses. Queues form early at the good ones. Source ↗

Busy — one of its best months for weather

Nothing new starts in October.

Still on: Dia del Patrimonio (28 Sep – 12 Oct (usually))

Busy — one of its best months for weather

Nothing new starts in November.

Busy — New Year on the rambla, school holidays in 4 of the markets that fill it

• Season

  Rambla and beach season

  1 Dec – 15 Mar · usuallySea warm enough

  Pocitos and Malvin fill up once the water warms, and the rambla is the city's living room from late afternoon until dark. The wind off the Plata decides which side of it you sit on.

• Holiday

  New Year on the rambla

  31 Dec – 1 JanNational holidayCrowdedClosures

  Ciudad Vieja offices shower the street with old paperwork before noon on 31 December, then the city eats at home and reappears on Pocitos beach around midnight. Nothing opens on the 1st. Source ↗