What's on in Niamey, Niger through the year

Busy — school holidays in 5 of the markets that fill it, one of its best months for weather

Nothing new starts in January.

Still on: Harmattan (25 Nov – 28 Feb (usually))

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

Nothing new starts in February.

Still on: Harmattan (25 Nov – 28 Feb (usually))

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

• Season

  The hot months

  15 Mar – 31 May · usuallyExtreme heat

  The hardest stretch of the Sahelian year, when the nights stop cooling down and the afternoons are spent indoors. Anything that needs walking around gets done before nine in the morning.

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

Nothing new starts in April.

Still on: The hot months (15 Mar – 31 May (usually))

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

Nothing new starts in May.

Still on: The hot months (15 Mar – 31 May (usually))

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

Nothing new starts in June.

Shoulder season — school holidays in 5 of the markets that fill it, an ordinary month

• Hazard

  Niger river flooding

  15 Jul – 30 Sep · usuallyFlood seasonClosures

  Storm runoff and then the river rise put whole neighbourhoods on the right bank under water most years. Unsurfaced roads turn to slop and the routes out towards the border become a gamble. Source ↗

Busy — Independence Day, school holidays in 4 of the markets that fill it

• Holiday

  Independence Day

  3 AugNational holidayClosures

  3 August is both independence day and the national tree-planting day, so the holiday comes with a planting campaign. Offices and banks close; it lands in the wettest weeks of the year. Source ↗

Still on: Niger river flooding (15 Jul – 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: Niger river flooding (15 Jul – 30 Sep (usually))

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

Nothing new starts in October.

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

• Season

  Harmattan

  25 Nov – 28 Feb · usuallyDust season

  The coolest and driest weeks of the year, and the dustiest: a north-easterly off the Sahara, cold enough for a jacket at dawn, and a haze that never fully lifts. Source ↗

Busy — Republic Day, school holidays in 5 of the markets that fill it

• Holiday

  Republic Day

  18 DecNational holidayClosuresCrowded

  18 December is the biggest civic date of the Nigerien year and the government has traditionally rotated the main ceremony around a different regional capital. Everything official closes. Source ↗

Still on: Harmattan (25 Nov – 28 Feb (usually))