What's on in Puno, Peru through the year

Busy — Summer / year-end holidays in Peru, school holidays in 4 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in January.

Peak crowds — Virgen de la Candelaria, Summer / year-end holidays in Peru

• Festival

  Virgen de la Candelaria

  1–15 FebReligious feastCrowdedBook early

  Two hundred troupes and something like fifty thousand dancers take the streets and the stadium for a fortnight around 2 February. Rooms in Puno go months before, and the lake boats run half empty. Source ↗

Peak crowds — Semana Santa, Summer / year-end holidays in Peru

• Holiday

  Semana Santa

  15 Mar – 20 Apr · usuallyEaster & Holy WeekCrowded

  Holy Thursday and Good Friday are national holidays, so Peruvians fill the lake tours. On Good Friday the faithful climb the calvary hills such as Azoguini, and Chucuito lays flower carpets for its processions. Source ↗

Busy — Semana Santa

Nothing new starts in April.

Still on: Semana Santa (15 Mar – 20 Apr (usually))

Peak crowds — Alasitas and Cruces de Mayo, May break in Peru

• Festival

  Alasitas and Cruces de Mayo

  1–6 MayReligious feastCrowded

  In early May Puno blesses its hillside crosses and holds a fair of miniatures, tiny houses, cars and banknotes bought in the hope of getting the real thing within the year. The 3rd is the main day. Source ↗

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

• Season

  Freezing nights on the altiplano

  1 Jun – 15 Aug · usuallyExtreme cold

  At 3,800 m the dry-season nights drop below freezing in rooms with no heating, while the midday sun burns hard enough that the hospital treats sunburn off the slow boats most days of July and August.

Peak crowds — Fiesta de Santiago on Taquile, Fiestas Patrias

• Festival

  Fiesta de Santiago on Taquile

  24–31 Jul · usuallyReligious feastCrowded

  Taquile island's patron saint feast, centred on the 25th, is when the islanders dance in their finest weaving to panpipes and drums. It is the island's biggest week, a long boat ride from Puno, so arrange the crossing early. Source ↗

• Holiday

  Fiestas Patrias

  25–29 JulNational holidayCrowdedBook earlyClosures

  Independence on 28 and 29 July is Peru's biggest domestic travel break, often widened into a long weekend. Buses and domestic flights sell out and fares rise, hotels fill, towns hang flags for parades, and banks and offices close. Source ↗

Still on: Freezing nights on the altiplano (1 Jun – 15 Aug (usually))

Busy — Mid-year break (Fiestas Patrias) in Peru

Nothing new starts in August.

Still on: Freezing nights on the altiplano (1 Jun – 15 Aug (usually))

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

Nothing new starts in September.

Peak crowds — Tata Pancho in Yunguyo, October break in Peru

• Festival

  Tata Pancho in Yunguyo

  6–14 Oct · usuallyReligious feastCrowded

  Yunguyo, on the Bolivian border about two and a half hours away, honours San Francisco de Borja with a procession on 10 October, zampona contests and more than fifty troupes of sikumorenos, morenada and diablada. Source ↗

Busy — Puno's jubilee week

• Festival

  Puno's jubilee week

  1–9 NovMajor festivalCrowded

  The city was founded on 4 November 1668 and marks it with parades, estudiantina contests and a re-enactment of Manco Cápac and Mama Ocllo coming ashore out of the lake by reed boat. Source ↗

Peak crowds — Inmaculada Concepcion in Lampa, Summer / year-end holidays in Peru

• Festival

  Inmaculada Concepcion in Lampa

  6–15 DecReligious feastCrowded

  Lampa, the colonial pink town north of Juliaca and an easy day trip, keeps its patron feast with sikuris and ayarachi contests, masses and processions, including a staged descent and ascension of the Virgin. Source ↗