What's on in San Salvador, El Salvador through the year

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

Nothing new starts in January.

Still on: Dry season (1 Nov – 15 Apr (usually))

Busy — one of its best months for weather

Nothing new starts in February.

Still on: Dry season (1 Nov – 15 Apr (usually))

Busy — Semana Santa, school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it

• Season

  Surf season on the Bálsamo coast

  15 Mar – 31 Oct · usually

  Southern swells run for most of the year on the point breaks at Sunzal, El Tunco and Punta Roca, forty-five minutes from the capital down the Litoral. It is the reason a lot of people are in San Salvador at all.

• Holiday

  Semana Santa

  29 Mar – 5 AprEaster & Holy WeekClosuresCrowded

  The capital empties to the coast and the western towns lay sawdust carpets for the processions. Banks and offices shut from Thursday, the buses to La Libertad are standing room, and the city itself goes quiet. Source ↗

Still on: Dry season (1 Nov – 15 Apr (usually))

Busy — Semana Santa

Nothing new starts in April.

Still on: Surf season on the Bálsamo coast (15 Mar – 31 Oct (usually)), Semana Santa (29 Mar – 5 Apr), Dry season (1 Nov – 15 Apr (usually))

Shoulder season — an ordinary month

Nothing new starts in May.

Still on: Surf season on the Bálsamo coast (15 Mar – 31 Oct (usually))

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: Surf season on the Bálsamo coast (15 Mar – 31 Oct (usually))

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

Nothing new starts in July.

Still on: Surf season on the Bálsamo coast (15 Mar – 31 Oct (usually))

Busy — Fiestas Agostinas, school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it

• Festival

  Fiestas Agostinas

  1–6 AugMajor festivalCrowdedClosures

  The capital's own week, in honour of El Salvador del Mundo: processions to the cathedral, a fairground, and most of the city not at work. Salvadorans abroad time flights home for it. Source ↗

Still on: Surf season on the Bálsamo coast (15 Mar – 31 Oct (usually))

Busy — Independence Day, school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it

• Holiday

  Independence Day

  14–15 SepNational holidayClosuresCrowded

  Torch relays come into the capital on the evening of the fourteenth and the school bands and drum corps take the Alameda the next morning. Everything closes for the day. Source ↗

Still on: Surf season on the Bálsamo coast (15 Mar – 31 Oct (usually))

Shoulder season — an ordinary month

Nothing new starts in October.

Still on: Surf season on the Bálsamo coast (15 Mar – 31 Oct (usually))

Shoulder season — an ordinary month

• Season

  Dry season

  1 Nov – 15 Apr · usually

  The rains stop outright and the volcanoes around the valley come back into view. It is also when the fields burn ahead of planting and the haze settles over the city in the afternoons.

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

Nothing new starts in December.

Still on: Dry season (1 Nov – 15 Apr (usually))