What's on in Port-au-Prince, Haiti through the year

Busy — Independence Day and soup joumou, school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it

• Holiday

  Independence Day and soup joumou

  1–2 JanNational holidayClosures

  The first of January is the anniversary of independence, and every household cooks and gives away the pumpkin soup the enslaved were forbidden. Nothing else opens; the day happens in kitchens and at neighbours' tables. Source ↗

Peak crowds — Kanaval, Rara season

• Festival

  Kanaval

  5–25 Feb · usuallyCarnivalCrowded

  Sunday rehearsals build through the weeks before Lent and the three days themselves close the Champ de Mars to everything else. The national carnival rotates between cities and has been cancelled outright in bad years. Source ↗

• Festival

  Rara season

  10 Feb – 25 Apr · usuallyEaster & Holy WeekCrowded

  Between the first Sunday of Lent and Easter, rara bands parade on Sunday nights with drums and vaksin horns. Whether any of it can safely be seen in the capital depends on the security situation at the time. Source ↗

Busy — Rara season, school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in March.

Still on: Rara season (10 Feb – 25 Apr (usually))

Busy — Rara season

Nothing new starts in April.

Still on: Rara season (10 Feb – 25 Apr (usually))

Shoulder season — an ordinary month

Nothing new starts in May.

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

• Hazard

  Hurricane season

  1 Jun – 30 Nov

  The hills behind the city were logged long ago, so the rain arrives in the ravines faster than the wind arrives at all. A tropical storm well offshore is enough to close roads in the lower districts. Source ↗

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

Nothing new starts in July.

Still on: Hurricane season (1 Jun – 30 Nov)

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: Hurricane season (1 Jun – 30 Nov)

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

Nothing new starts in September.

Still on: Hurricane season (1 Jun – 30 Nov)

Quiet — one of its worst months for weather

Nothing new starts in October.

Still on: Hurricane season (1 Jun – 30 Nov)

Busy — Fèt Gede

• Festival

  Fèt Gede

  1–2 NovNational holidayCrowded

  The Vodou festival of the dead falls on the Catholic days for it, and the Grand Cimetière fills with people in purple and black for the Gede lwa. It is a family observance before it is anything else. Source ↗

Still on: Hurricane season (1 Jun – 30 Nov)

Busy — Christmas and midnight Mass, school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it

• Holiday

  Christmas and midnight Mass

  15–25 DecChristmas & New YearCrowded

  Markets fill with decorations and crafts, families living abroad come home and Christmas Eve centres on midnight Mass and carollers. Security in the capital decides how much of it a visitor can see. Source ↗