When to Go to Nasca

By Lorraine Caputo

In the summer months (mid-December through March) it is just plain old hot in Nasca. The rest of the year, days usually dawn with garúa (and may delay flights over the Lines) that quickly burns off. Also expect windy afternoons and chill nights.

No-one seems to quite agree on when the tourism high season is. Some tour operators and hotels charge the higher prices only December-March and June-July, others into September. In the off season, prices drop up to 50%.

Nasca has quite a calendar of events:

January 23—Aniversario Provincial de Nasca—Celebration of the province’s founding

April 6—Day of the Declaration of the 7 Wonders of Peru (the Nasca Lines came in first place)

Second / third week of May—Semana Turística—All sorts of tourism promotions events, plus the celebration of Maria Reiche’s birthday on May 15

May 27—Cruz de Socos—religious processions and masses

August 30—Santa Rosa de Lima—Patron saint of Peru and the Policia Nacional

September 8—Fiestas Patronales de Nasca—With novenas to the Virgen de Guadalupe, beginning on August 29 and processions

September 9-10—Virgen del Carmen de Nasca—The town’s patron saint, with an all-night procession on the 10th

December 15—UNESCO’s Declaration of Nasca as a Patrimonio Cultural de la Humanidad site.

The surrounding villages also have their special days: fiestasdenasca.blogspot.com.