Holy Week in Antigua Guatemala
16 – 20 April, 2025
Holy Week in Antigua Guatemala is not to be missed. The entire city revolves around the festival for the full week and you’ll be immersed in the colors and vibrant celebrations of this special time. It’s a unique experience that is highly anticipated by both tourists and locals.
Throughout the week, numerous processions parade through the streets, stunning carpets made of sawdust, flowers, fruits, and food that is hard to find at any other time. Holy Week or Semana Santa is Antigua’s time to shine. We’ll make sure you don’t miss any of the top sights while you visit the city during the festivities.
Holy Week
Spectacular processions
Holy Week
Antigua Guatemala
Holy Week
Beautiful carpets
Holy Week
UNESCO Humanity’s Intangible Heritage
Whether you’re religious or not, you’ll appreciate the devout faith that goes into the Holy Week celebrations in Antigua Guatemala. Every sense will be engaged, from the rich scent of incense and the pine needle carpets, the delicious sweet treats sold at local stands, and the solemn funeral marches played by bands that follow each float. You’ll have a chance to really experience the unique culture that surrounds this time of year.
While North Americans hunt for eggs and eat chocolate, Guatemalans pay their respects to an older tradition. Simple materials like sawdust, flowers, and even fruits and vegetables are used in stunning carpets. The entire city comes alive for the week, with an influx of thousands of visitors, eager to see the carpets and processions.
HOLY WEEK IN ANTIGUA GUATEMALA
If you’re looking for something that will give you a unique glimpse into the history and traditions of Guatemala, Holy Week is a good place to start. It’s one of the biggest festivals in Central America. Walk alongside the processions in a cloud of incense smoke as you admire the carpets and listen to the live bands playing funeral marches as they walk behind. The culture and religious aspects of Guatemala come together in one amazing week.
Upon your arrival at Guatemala City’s international airport, we’ll have someone meet you and take you directly to Antigua. There are three main events today that you can attend. Please keep in mind that we provide the start times for the most important events, but each one may last for several hours. Some processions go on for up to 20 hours!
Upon arrival in Antigua, you’ll visit the Vigil in Escuela de Cristo, where you can observe the intricate carpet created there. After lunch, we’ll walk to a good location to see the children’s procession that emerges from La Merced, a beautiful yellow church that is central to many of the Holy Week events.
There is another procession that begins at 3pm, which leaves San Felipe de Jesus and winds through Antigua. We’ll catch it when it passes through a central point in Antigua. You’ll spend your evening wandering the cobblestone streets, watching as families work together to create amazing works of art in the streets.
This morning, you’ll start off with a tour of the colonial city of Antigua Guatemala. This was the third capital of Guatemala until a disastrous earthquake caused people to abandon it and move to Guatemala City. Today, Antigua is a UNESCO World Heritage site and is a popular destination among travelers. Thanks to its old-fashioned feel, you can see what life must have been like back in the day.
Once you’ve visited several impressive churches and ruins that are scattered throughout the city, it’s time to check out the processions for today. There are two, one of which will leave from San Cristobal El Bajo around 11 am and another leaving from Antigua’s San Francisco church around 1 pm. As before, we’ll see a portion of these processions as they pass a more accessible part of Antigua and you can truly appreciate the beauty of the floats that take a full year to design and decorate.
We’ll finish the day off with Ceremonia del Lavatorio, of the washing of Jesus’ feet. This is done in three different locations, so we’ll choose the best one for you to visit.
It’s Good Friday and this is the most important day of Holy Week in Guatemala. The events center around La Merced, the golden yellow church to the north of town. Around midnight, a centurion rides a horse out of the church, pausing to read out the sentence against Jesus at several stops. Between 3-4 am, Roman soldiers ride out on horseback or walk through the streets to “search” for Jesus. The main procession starts around 4 am. This is the most impressive procession of the week, but it also runs for most of the day, so you’ll have a chance to enjoy it a little later.
In the morning, the men carrying the Jesus float wear purple robes, but after the crucifixion ceremony (there are two, one at the main Cathedral in the park and another at the Escuela de Cristo) around noon, the robes change to black for mourning. You’ll see three more processions throughout the day, including the biggest one that comes from Escuela de Cristo, to the south of the city. As it passes Central Park, there is a huge ceremony that you won’t want to miss out on.
Good Friday is also the best day for seeing carpets, so we’ll do some walking today. You’ll be amazed at how much work goes into creating every last detail in these masterpieces.
While Saturday has a few processions, you may choose to hike up Pacaya Volcano. This volcano is one of the most active volcanoes in Central America and you will have a chance to see some fumaroles and possibly even lava. We’ll head out early in the morning, returning around noon.
In the afternoon, you can view processions from San Felipe de Jesus and Escuela de Cristo. These processions feature only the Virgin Mary’s float, as Jesus has died. The floats are carried only by women, dressed in black. Between 8-11 pm, there will be special ceremonies in most churches around Antigua. You can take the time to receive blessings at one of the ceremonies.
There will be a church service that celebrates the Resurrection, though this is not a big day for processions or celebrations. There is just one celebrational procession at 1 pm, which leaves from the Hermano Pedro church. This church is associated with the city’s own saint, Hermano Pedro who worked as a healer in Antigua and the surrounding villages. He was sainted in 2002 when the pope visited Guatemala. This procession is a beautiful one with plenty of flowers and happiness.
Holy Week in Antigua Guatemala has come to a close and you will be taken to the airport for your departing flight. However, we have several options to extend your visit, if you prefer.
map, expenses & price
Holy Week in Antigua Guatemala
Expenses included:
-All private transportation.
-Four nights of hotel accommodations.
-Professional local guides.
-Tours and activities as listed.
-Entrance fees.
-Two traditional lunches.
-Daily breakfast.
HOLY WEEK IN GUATEMALA
Holy Week in Antigua Guatemala is a fascinating event, whether or not you celebrate Easter. While Antigua is the most popular destination, the festival is celebrated around the country, with crucifixion presentations in some areas.
In Antigua, you’ll see, hear, and experience everything that comes with the traditions of Holy Week. From the elaborate carpets, carefully made by hand, to the impressive floats carried by dozens of faithful Catholics, it’s worth a trip to see.
Holy Week or Semana Santa, is a big deal in Guatemala. Churches throughout the city arrange processions that wind through the cobbled streets, accompanied by funeral marches and incense. Purple-robed “cucuruchos” or faithful worshipers carry the massive floats, switching up every block. You’ll see columns of these men walking along the parade route, helping keep the crowds back and the procession path clear.
Antigua is well-known for its incredible carpets, created from dyed sawdust, sand, and stencils to create intricate designs. Some are decorated with flowers and produce and they take hours or even days to create. As the procession moves along the street, hundreds of feet destroy the temporary carpets, so it’s a good idea to snap a photo while you can. You’ll have a chance to watch as families and neighbors gather late at night and early in the morning to create the carpets and we’ll walk the streets so you can get some good shots of the finished designs.
Holy Week in Antigua Guatemala has come to a close and you will be taken to the airport for your departing flight. However, we have several options to extend your visit, if you prefer.
Extensions
Holy week in antigua
Lake Atitlan is just a few short hours from Antigua and is a good place to recover from the excitement of Holy Week. The tranquil villages around the lake each hold their special allure. We’ll visit several of them so you can get a better feel for what life is like in Guatemala. Like Santa Catarina Palopo which is considered one of the most beautiful towns in the country, thanks to the brightly colored houses. A local movement is painting homes with traditional symbols and colors in exchange for keeping the streets clean and children educated.
holy week in antigua
Visit one of the most renowned Mayan ruins with us and experience the ancient history uncovered in the middle of the jungle. Tikal covers 575 square kilometers and is a UNESCO World Heritage site since 1979. It was also the first area to be protected in Guatemala, back in 1955. The ruins are impressive, with multiple temples designed to face the sun in a specific way. While visiting Tikal, you can climb up to the top of one of the temples and see out over the jungle. Imagine the joy of the Mayan kings who once ruled here. It’s an overwhelming sensation to realize that you’re standing where hundreds of thousands of people once lived and died.
holy week in antigua
Rio Dulce, or Sweet River, is a river that connects Lake Izabal to the Caribbean Sea on the eastern coast of Guatemala. You’ll take a boat ride along the river, which is home to many species of birds, crocodiles, and other wildlife. The scenery is stunning, as well, thanks to the massive limestone cliffs on either side of the river, fully covered in greenery. While here, we’ll visit the San Felipe Castle, a Spanish fortress that once prevented pirates from accessing the lake. Today, you can visit the castle and explore it, visit the dungeons, and even touch the original cannons used to fight off pirate invasions.
holy week in antigua
Once a busy city with around 20,000 residents, Copan is another popular Mayan ruin located in Honduras. You’ll definitely want to check out the Hieroglyphic Stairway, with more than 1,250 glyphs carved into its steps, for a piece of history to come to life. One of the more unique things about this particular site is the fact that many of the currently visible temples were built atop previous temples. You can actually see these when you enter the archeologist tunnels to get a glimpse into the past. With a variety of temples and other structures, including stelae, there’s no shortage of history to absorb in Copan.
