Popayán: When to Go

Festival, Climate & Geography

Popayán has four seasons of two distinct types of weather. January to March you can bask in sun and warmth, and again from June to August, when it is also windy, especially in the last month. Those August winds bring two festivals to the Popayán area: the Festival de las Cometas, when kites dance across the azure skies, and paragliding events in Balboa, west of the city. Invierno, or the rainy season, comes heavy in April and May, and once more with afternoon showers from September to December. The mean temperature in the Ciudad Blanca is 18'C ( 64'F). Evenings are cool.

HOLIDAYS AND FESTIVALS

Like Pasto and other southern Andean towns in Colombia, Popayán celebrates Carnaval, or the Fiesta de los Blancos and Negros, 5 and 6 January. The city's observance of Semana Santa, Easter Week, is renowned throughout the country; at this time, lodging prices rise sharply and reservations are necessary far in advance. Mid-April to 1 May is Fiesta de Ecce Homo; on the first day of the festival, a procession of women carries the statue of the Ecce Homo Christ down from the Belén church and on 1 May men return the Christ back to its temple.

Another August festival is the Fiesta del Verano, marked in the villages around the Ciudad Blanca. September is the Festival Gastronómico, or the Gastronomic Festival. Día de los Ánimas, Day of the Dead (1-3 November) is when Payusos commemorate their dearly departed with special masses and cemetery events. The first part of December, until Christmas Eve, chirimías pass through Popayán's streets day and night, playing drum and flute music.