Important festivals and holidays

There are religious and secular festivals and celebrations occurring through the year in Latin America; many of them are wonderfully exuberant and well worth making the effort to witness.

February/March - Carnival (throughout Latin America, but most famously in Rio de Janeiro)

Carnival was introduced to Latin America by the Spanish and Portuguese, where it blended with indigenous American and African traditions. Starting on a Saturday, this vibrant, colourful festive extravaganza of parades, floats and dancing in the streets runs for four or five days in the height of summer; Carnival Sunday is seven weeks before Easter Sunday. Rio is the place to see it: it’s the biggest, most colourful and most exuberant.

March/April - Semana Santa (All of Latin America)

Holy week is one of the most important celebrations in the Christian calendar, and as such is observed throughout the region. One of the best places to watch the festivities is Antigua in Guatemala. Beginning on Palm Sunday, this spectacular holy week celebration draws thousands of national and international visitors. On Good Friday the Antiguan residents cover the streets with carpets of flowers, pines, clover and fruit.

June 24^th - Inti Raymi (Cusco, Peru)

The Festival of the Sun is a dramatic Inca festival; the Sun was their main deity and the timing of the festival is dictated by the winter solstice in the southern hemisphere. The main event occurs below the imposing fortress of Sacsayhuaman, 2 km outside the city of Cusco and easily reached by car or on foot; scores of actors enact a long ceremony giving thanks to the Sun God, Inti.

July 24^th - Birth of Simon Bolivar (Colombia, Venezuela, Panama)

Known as The Liberator, Simon Bolivar was an important figure in throwing off the colonial yokes of Latin America: he led the rebellion against Spanish rule that established the independence of Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia. 

Sep 15^th - Independence Day for Central American nations (El Salvador, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua)

A whole block of Central American countries declared their independence from Spain on 15 September 1821; the date is still marked as Independence Day by most Central American nations.

September 16^th - Independence Day (All of Mexico)

A major holiday in Mexico, it celebrates the start of the fight for independence from Spain in 1810. Things kick off in every single city and town in Mexico on September 15th at 11 pm. In Mexico City, the President rings the historic liberty bell and gives the "El Grito" (The Cry) "Mexicanos, Viva Mexico". On the 16^th there are rodeos, parades, bullfights and equestrian performances.

October 31^st - November 2^nd - Day of the Dead (Mexico, Central America)

Although associated with the dead, this holiday/festival is not a gloomy affair, but rather a celebration involving family and community gatherings, music, and feasting, a day on which family members who have died are remembered. It is a time for the departed to join the living in a celebration of life. Two great locations for this festival are Michoacan state in Mexico and Todos Santos in Guatemala.

New Year’s Eve (All of Latin America)

In all of Latin America Catholic families celebrate New Years’ Eve by attending mass and having a special meal together, quite often there are fireworks and jubilant celebrations.