What's on in San Salvador de Jujuy, Argentina through the year

Peak crowds — Christmas and New Year, Summer holidays in Argentina

• Hazard

  Summer landslides in the Quebrada

  1 Jan – 31 Mar · usuallyLandslide season

  Summer storms send mud and rockslides across Ruta 9 near Volcan and Tunalito and Ruta 52 at the Cuesta de Lipan, cutting access to Purmamarca, Tilcara and Humahuaca for hours or days. Check road reports before a day trip. Source ↗

Still on: Christmas and New Year (24 Dec – 1 Jan)

Peak crowds — Carnaval jujeño, Summer holidays in Argentina

• Festival

  Carnaval jujeño

  1 Feb – 5 Mar · usuallyCarnivalCrowded

  The city empties up the Quebrada for the nine days between the unearthing of the devil and its burial. What stays behind is neighbourhood comparsas, brass bands and a great deal of flour. Source ↗

Still on: Summer landslides in the Quebrada (1 Jan – 31 Mar (usually))

Peak crowds — Carnaval jujeño, Punta Corral pilgrimage

• Festival

  Punta Corral pilgrimage

  10 Mar – 20 Apr · usuallyPilgrimage seasonCrowded

  In the week before Easter, tens of thousands climb to the mountain shrine above Tumbaya and Tilcara and walk the Virgin down with brass bands; she reaches Tumbaya on Palm Sunday and Tilcara on Holy Wednesday. Source ↗

• Holiday

  Semana Santa

  2–5 AprEaster & Holy WeekCrowdedBook earlyClosures

  Holy Thursday and Good Friday make one of the year's biggest long weekends. Banks and public offices close, long-distance buses and domestic flights sell out, and hotels in popular towns fill at higher rates, so book ahead. Source ↗

Still on: Summer landslides in the Quebrada (1 Jan – 31 Mar (usually)), Carnaval jujeño (1 Feb – 5 Mar (usually))

Peak crowds — Punta Corral pilgrimage, Semana Santa

Nothing new starts in April.

Still on: Punta Corral pilgrimage (10 Mar – 20 Apr (usually)), Semana Santa (2–5 Apr)

Shoulder season — an ordinary month

Nothing new starts in May.

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

• Festival

  Inti Raymi, the Andean New Year

  20–21 JunMajor festival

  Indigenous communities greet the winter solstice with offerings to the sun at dawn on 21 June; the best-known ceremony is at Huacalera on the Tropic of Capricorn, about two hours up the Quebrada. Source ↗

Peak crowds — Argentine winter holidays, Winter recess in Argentina

• Season

  Argentine winter holidays

  5 Jul – 5 Aug · usuallySchool holidaysCrowdedBook early

  July is the province's busiest month by far: the city fills as the base for the Quebrada and the salt flats, the Tren Solar sells out and rooms up the valley go weeks in advance. Source ↗

Peak crowds — Argentine winter holidays, Éxodo Jujeño

• Festival

  Pachamama month

  1–31 Aug · usuallyMajor festival

  On 1 August families and neighbourhood groups open a hole in the ground and feed Mother Earth with food, coca and drink, and the ceremonies carry on through the month in the city's barrios and markets. Source ↗

• Festival

  Éxodo Jujeño

  22–23 AugNational holidayCrowdedClosures

  The province marks Belgrano's 1812 evacuation with an evocative march on the 22nd and a parade of some seventy-five gaucho centres on the 23rd. It is a provincial holiday and the city stops for it. Source ↗

Still on: Argentine winter holidays (5 Jul – 5 Aug (usually))

Busy — Fiesta Nacional de los Estudiantes, school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it

• Festival

  Fiesta Nacional de los Estudiantes

  12–26 SepMajor festivalCrowdedBook early

  A fortnight of school-built floats paraded through the city to open the spring, ending with the election of the national representative. Hotels fill and the school week loses days to it. Source ↗

Busy — Virgen de Rio Blanco y Paypaya

• Festival

  Virgen de Rio Blanco y Paypaya

  1–31 OctReligious feastCrowded

  Every Sunday in October the faithful walk, many barefoot, to the patron saint's sanctuary at Rio Blanco, a few kilometres outside the city. On 7 October, a local holiday, the cathedral holds the main mass and procession. Source ↗

Shoulder season — an ordinary month

Nothing new starts in November.

Peak crowds — Christmas and New Year, Summer holidays in Argentina

• Holiday

  Christmas and New Year

  24 Dec – 1 JanChristmas & New YearClosures

  Argentines celebrate at midnight on 24 and 31 December with family dinners and fireworks. Shops close early on those evenings, and on 25 December and 1 January almost everything is shut, including many restaurants. Source ↗