What's on in Valladolid, Mexico through the year

Busy — Feria de la Candelaria, school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it

• Festival

  Feria de la Candelaria

  27 Jan – 8 Feb · usuallyMajor festivalCrowded

  The town's patronal fair around the second of February, with bullring events, vaqueria dances in the square and a fairground on the edge of town. It is for the town first and visitors second. Source ↗

Still on: Dry season (15 Nov – 30 Apr (usually))

Busy — Feria de la Candelaria

Nothing new starts in February.

Still on: Feria de la Candelaria (27 Jan – 8 Feb (usually)), Dry season (15 Nov – 30 Apr (usually))

Peak crowds — Equinox at Chichen Itza, Semana Santa

• Nature

  Equinox at Chichen Itza

  19–22 MarMajor festivalCrowded

  Forty minutes west, the late-afternoon sun throws a stepped shadow down the stairway of El Castillo that finishes at the serpent's head. Tens of thousands come over three days and the queues start early. Source ↗

• Holiday

  Semana Santa

  20 Mar – 20 Apr · usuallyEaster & Holy WeekCrowdedClosures

  Processions in the convent square and a domestic crowd on the road to the coast. The cenotes around the town are at their busiest of the year that week, and many small places close. Source ↗

Still on: Dry season (15 Nov – 30 Apr (usually))

Busy — Semana Santa

Nothing new starts in April.

Still on: Semana Santa (20 Mar – 20 Apr (usually)), Dry season (15 Nov – 30 Apr (usually))

Quiet — one of its worst months for weather

• Season

  Rainy season

  20 May – 15 OctMonsoon

  Storms in the late afternoon and heavy air before them, and the jungle around the cenotes green rather than grey. Mornings at the ruins are the way to use these months.

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

• Hazard

  Hurricane season

  1 Jun – 30 Nov

  The Atlantic season runs June to November. Inland Yucatan gets the rain and the wind of a storm rather than the surge, but the buses and the coast road stop for a day or two around one. Source ↗

Still on: Rainy season (20 May – 15 Oct)

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

Nothing new starts in July.

Still on: Rainy season (20 May – 15 Oct), 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: Rainy season (20 May – 15 Oct), Hurricane season (1 Jun – 30 Nov)

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

Nothing new starts in September.

Still on: Rainy season (20 May – 15 Oct), Hurricane season (1 Jun – 30 Nov)

Shoulder season — an ordinary month

• Festival

  Hanal Pixan

  31 Oct – 2 NovMajor festival

  The Yucatec Day of the Dead: altars in the houses, cemeteries lit at night and mucbipollo baked in a pit in the ground. Smaller and more domestic here than the versions on the coast. Source ↗

Still on: Rainy season (20 May – 15 Oct), Hurricane season (1 Jun – 30 Nov)

Shoulder season — an ordinary month

• Season

  Dry season

  15 Nov – 30 Apr · usually

  The rains stop, the heat is manageable at either end of the day and the cenote water sits clear. It is also the only time the ruins are comfortable after ten in the morning.

Still on: Hurricane season (1 Jun – 30 Nov), Hanal Pixan (31 Oct – 2 Nov)

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 (15 Nov – 30 Apr (usually))