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

Peak crowds — Panama Jazz Festival, Dry season

• Festival

  Panama Jazz Festival

  10–20 Jan · usuallyMajor festivalCrowded

  Danilo Perez's festival fills Ciudad del Saber and the Casco theatres for a few days each January, with free outdoor concerts and a student clinic that puts instruments on every corner. Source ↗

Still on: Dry season (15 Dec – 30 Apr (usually))

Peak crowds — Carnaval, Dry season

• Festival

  Carnaval

  14–17 FebCarnivalCrowdedClosures

  Four days of culecos on the Cinta Costera: water trucks over the crowd in the afternoon, murgas at night. Half the city drives to Las Tablas instead, and nothing official opens until Ash Wednesday. Source ↗

Still on: Dry season (15 Dec – 30 Apr (usually))

Peak crowds — Semana Santa, Dry season

• Holiday

  Semana Santa

  29 Mar – 5 AprEaster & Holy WeekClosures

  Offices shut from Wednesday and the capital empties towards the interior and the beaches. Thursday and Friday are the two quietest days of the year in the Casco, with much of it closed. Source ↗

Still on: Carnaval (14–17 Feb), Dry season (15 Dec – 30 Apr (usually))

Peak crowds — Semana Santa, Dry season

Nothing new starts in April.

Still on: Semana Santa (29 Mar – 5 Apr), Dry season (15 Dec – 30 Apr (usually))

Shoulder season — an ordinary month

• Season

  Green season

  1 May – 30 Nov · usuallyMonsoon

  Rain most afternoons from May, hardest in October and November, when the Chagres runs high and fills the lakes the canal spends the dry season on. Mornings usually stay usable.

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: Green season (1 May – 30 Nov (usually))

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

• Nature

  Humpback whales in the bay

  1 Jul – 31 Oct · usuallyWhale season

  Southern humpbacks calve in the Bay of Panama and around the Pearl Islands from July, peaking between mid-August and late September. The Taboga ferry crosses the same water for the price of a bus ticket.

Still on: Green season (1 May – 30 Nov (usually))

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

Nothing new starts in August.

Still on: Green season (1 May – 30 Nov (usually)), Humpback whales in the bay (1 Jul – 31 Oct (usually))

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

Nothing new starts in September.

Still on: Green season (1 May – 30 Nov (usually)), Humpback whales in the bay (1 Jul – 31 Oct (usually))

Shoulder season — an ordinary month

Nothing new starts in October.

Still on: Green season (1 May – 30 Nov (usually)), Humpback whales in the bay (1 Jul – 31 Oct (usually))

Busy — Panama's November holidays

• Holiday

  Panama's November holidays

  2–10 NovSchool holidaysCrowdedClosures

  Four national days inside nine, with school bands drumming down Via Espana for most of them and the whole country on the move. Banks and offices close and the interior roads back up. Source ↗

Still on: Green season (1 May – 30 Nov (usually))

Busy — Dry season, school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it

• Season

  Dry season

  15 Dec – 30 Apr · usuallyCrowded

  The trades pick up, the bay gets choppy and the city turns dusty. It is also when the Camino de Cruces and the Chagres trails are walkable and the canal locks are clear from the viewing decks.