What's on in Port Louis (Mauritius), Mauritius through the year

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

• Festival

  Thaipoosam Cavadee

  15 Jan – 15 Feb · usuallyMajor festival

  Tamil Mauritians carry wooden cavadee frames to the riverside temples after ten days of fasting, cheeks and tongues pierced. A public holiday, and a religious occasion rather than a spectacle laid on for anyone. Source ↗

• Festival

  Chinese New Year in Chinatown

  20 Jan – 20 Feb · usuallyLunar New YearClosures

  Port Louis has the oldest Chinatown in the Indian Ocean and marks it properly: firecrackers down Royal Street, wax cakes sold out of the shophouses, and a lion dance through the market. Source ↗

Still on: Cyclone season (15 Nov – 15 May (usually))

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

Nothing new starts in February.

Still on: Thaipoosam Cavadee (15 Jan – 15 Feb (usually)), Chinese New Year in Chinatown (20 Jan – 20 Feb (usually)), Cyclone season (15 Nov – 15 May (usually))

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

• Holiday

  National Day

  10–14 Mar · usuallyNational holidayCrowdedClosures

  The 12th marks independence and the republic, with the parade and flag-raising at the Champ de Mars and the capital shut around it. The villages run their own street parties and sell dholl puri all day. Source ↗

Still on: Cyclone season (15 Nov – 15 May (usually))

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

• Opening

  Champ de Mars racing season

  1 Apr – 30 Nov · usually

  The Turf Club races most weekends from about April to late November on the second-oldest course in the world, in the middle of the city. The public enclosure costs nothing and is where the afternoon actually happens. Source ↗

Still on: Cyclone season (15 Nov – 15 May (usually))

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

Nothing new starts in May.

Still on: Champ de Mars racing season (1 Apr – 30 Nov (usually)), Cyclone season (15 Nov – 15 May (usually))

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

Nothing new starts in June.

Still on: Champ de Mars racing season (1 Apr – 30 Nov (usually))

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

Nothing new starts in July.

Still on: Champ de Mars racing season (1 Apr – 30 Nov (usually))

Busy — The Maiden Cup, school holidays in 4 of the markets that fill it

• Festival

  The Maiden Cup

  25 Aug – 25 Sep · usuallyMajor festivalCrowded

  The race of the Mauritian year fills the Champ de Mars — grandstands, the hill, the pits and the whole island's betting economy on one afternoon in September. Source ↗

Still on: Champ de Mars racing season (1 Apr – 30 Nov (usually))

Peak crowds — The Maiden Cup, Père Laval pilgrimage

• Festival

  Père Laval pilgrimage

  5–11 Sep · usuallyPilgrimage seasonCrowdedClosures

  Tens of thousands walk to the shrine at Sainte-Croix on the northern edge of the city through the night of the 8th and into the 9th. The northern approaches are effectively closed to cars for it. Source ↗

Still on: Champ de Mars racing season (1 Apr – 30 Nov (usually)), The Maiden Cup (25 Aug – 25 Sep (usually))

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

Nothing new starts in October.

Still on: Champ de Mars racing season (1 Apr – 30 Nov (usually))

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

• Hazard

  Cyclone season

  15 Nov – 15 May · usually

  The Mauritius Meteorological Services run their warning classes from mid-November to mid-May. A class III shuts the capital — offices, buses, the market — usually for a day or two, and January to March is the likeliest stretch. Source ↗

Still on: Champ de Mars racing season (1 Apr – 30 Nov (usually))

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

Nothing new starts in December.

Still on: Cyclone season (15 Nov – 15 May (usually))