Ipiales: When to go

Plaza 20 de Julio y Catedral

Santuario de las Lajas

By Lorraine Caputo

Ipiales and Nariño Department have an agreeable spring-like climate, due to the high altitude of this southern Colombian region. From June to September it is cold and rainy. The other months see intermittent clear skies and sunshine.

No matter the season, the nights are surprisingly crisp. Ipiales has several festivals. El Festival de los Blancos y Negros (Festival of the Blacks and Whites) occurs 3-6 January. Be sure to wear your oldest clothes, as it gets pretty nasty: on Black days, people cover themselves—and everyone else—with grease; on Blanco days, talcum powder flies.

Semana Santa (Holy Week) begins on the Wednesday before Easter. Every morning the via crucis wends through the city's streets, and in the evenings are processions. Many people also make the pilgrimmage to Las Lajas at this time.

The Sacred Heart of Jesus is Ipiales' patron saint, celebrated between the end of May and the end of June (a floating holiday). The city is extremely crowded the first fortnight of September during the observance of the feast days of the Virgin of Lajas, culminating 15 September.

On New Years Eve, effigies representing events and noteworthy personalities of the past year are burnt in the streets.