Costa Maya Festival in August is the largest event held on Ambergris Caye itself, running several days with music, a pageant and parades. Carnaval before Lent and the September Celebrations are the two that feel most local.
Belize is a small country that takes its holidays seriously. For a visitor that means two things: some genuinely good reasons to time a trip, and a handful of dates when the island is full and everything needs booking months ahead.
On dates: several of these move year to year, and the ones that
do not can still shift when they fall at a weekend. Confirm current dates with
the Belize Tourism Board or the San Pedro Town Council before you book flights
around one.
The Year at a Glance
| When | Event | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| 1 January | New Year's Day | Public holiday. The island is at its busiest either side of it. |
| Feb or early Mar | Carnaval | The days before Lent. Street painting, comparsas, music. Loud and very local. |
| 9 March | National Heroes and Benefactors Day | Public holiday, formerly Baron Bliss Day. Regattas and sailing. |
| March or April | Easter | Good Friday through Easter Monday. One of the busiest weeks of the year islandwide. |
| 1 May | Labour Day | Public holiday. |
| June | Lobster Fest | Opening of lobster season. San Pedro, Caye Caulker and Placencia each hold their own. |
| August | Costa Maya Festival | The biggest event on Ambergris Caye. Several days of music, pageantry and parades. |
| 10 September | St George's Caye Day | National holiday marking the 1798 battle. Parades and fireworks. |
| 21 September | Independence Day | Independence from Britain in 1981. The biggest national celebration of the year. |
| 12 October | Indigenous Peoples' Resistance Day | Public holiday, formerly Columbus Day. |
| 19 November | Garifuna Settlement Day | Drumming, dancing and one of the most distinctive cultural days in the country. |
| 25–26 December | Christmas and Boxing Day | Public holidays. The island is completely full from around the 20th. |
The Four Worth Planning Around
Carnaval
In the days before Ash Wednesday, San Pedro holds its own Carnaval, and the distinctive part is the painting. Groups move through the streets and people get covered in paint. This is not a spectator arrangement and being a visitor does not exempt you.
If that appeals, it is one of the best few days to be here. If it does not, stay out of town on those afternoons. Either way, do not wear anything you care about, and keep your phone in a bag.
Lobster Fest
The opening of lobster season in June is a genuine local event rather than a tourist one, though visitors are very welcome. Bars and restaurants compete on lobster dishes, there is music, and the town is in a good mood.
It also marks the start of the season if you want lobster on a menu honestly. See the eating guide for how the seasons work.
Costa Maya Festival
August, and the largest thing that happens on Ambergris Caye. Several days of music, a regional pageant, parades and a great many people. Hotels fill, carts sell out, and the town runs at a different tempo for a week.
Worth timing a trip for if you want the island at full volume. Worth avoiding if you came for quiet.
The September Celebrations
The whole month, anchored on St George's Caye Day on the 10th and Independence Day on the 21st. Parades, drumming, fireworks, and flags on everything.
This is our favourite recommendation for anyone who wants to see Belize rather than a resort. September is also the quietest and cheapest month of the year, because it is the wettest, so you get a genuinely local island at low season prices. The trade off is the weather, covered in the best time to visit guide.
Two Smaller Ones Worth Catching
Beyond the four main events, two more are worth knowing about.
Dia de San Pedro falls at the end of June and honours the town's patron saint. It is small, local and religious in character rather than a tourist event, with processions and a blessing of the fishing fleet. If you are here for it, it is a window into the town that Costa Maya does not give you.
Garifuna Settlement Day on 19 November marks the arrival of the Garifuna people on the Belizean coast in the early nineteenth century. It is biggest in the southern coastal towns, but San Pedro marks it, and Garifuna drumming and punta are among the most distinctive things in Belizean culture.
Christmas and New Year on the Island
Worth its own note, because it is the busiest and most expensive fortnight of the year and it does not behave like the rest of December.
Up to around the 15th, December is quiet, dry and excellent value. After that the island fills completely: hotels at peak rates with minimum stays, restaurants needing reservations, flights and water taxis full, and golf carts sold out island wide.
If you are coming for Christmas or New Year, book everything months ahead and accept the pricing. If you are flexible, the first two weeks of December are one of the best value windows in the calendar, and the weather is essentially the same.
How Belize Does a Public Holiday
Worth calibrating. Belizean national holidays are properly observed rather than treated as a day off. Expect parades that genuinely close roads, music from early in the day, flags on everything, and an atmosphere that visitors are welcome to join rather than watch from behind a barrier.
The flip side is that banks, government offices and some shops close entirely. Tourist facing businesses in San Pedro mostly stay open, but a supermarket run on Independence Day is not a plan. Get cash and anything essential the day before.
What Festivals Mean Practically
- Book accommodation early. Costa Maya and the September dates fill the island.
- Book a cart earlier. Six seaters for groups go first, and around festivals they go months out.
- Roads close. Parades shut streets in town with limited notice. Park outside the centre and walk.
- Banks and offices close on national holidays. Get cash the day before.
- Water taxis and flights fill up either side of a long weekend, in both directions.
Around parade days, the driving rules matter more than usual: the area around Central Park closes to vehicles, and enforcement is stricter when the town is busy. The rules page covers it.
Before you ask
Common Questions
The days before Ash Wednesday, so it moves with Easter and falls in February or early March. In San Pedro it involves painting, which is not a metaphor. If you are in town during Carnaval, wear clothes you do not mind losing.
Two national holidays close together: St George's Caye Day on 10 September and Independence Day on 21 September. The whole month carries parades, music and street events, and it is the most genuinely Belizean time to be here.
Around the opening of lobster season in June. San Pedro, Caye Caulker and Placencia each hold their own, usually on different weekends so people can do more than one.
Yes. Costa Maya in August and the September Celebrations fill hotels, and Carnaval falls inside high season anyway. Golf carts also sell out around these dates, particularly six seaters for groups.
Many close or run short hours on the main national holidays, and banks close. Tourist facing businesses in San Pedro generally stay open, but do not count on a supermarket run on Independence Day.
Keep planning
More San Pedro Guides
Written by people who live here and rent carts to visitors every day. See all 10 guides.
Things to Do
The reef, the beaches, the ruins and the bars, and roughly what each one costs you in time and money.
Read guideBest Time to Visit
Month by month on weather, sea conditions, crowds and prices, including what hurricane season really means here.
Read guideGetting Here
Plane or water taxi from Belize City, what each costs in time, and how to get from the terminal to your hotel.
Read guideWhere to Drive
North past the bridge, south to the airstrip, and the stops worth making on both runs.
Read guideSecret Beach
How to get there, how long it takes, what it is actually like now, and when to go to avoid the crowd.
Read guideBeaches and Reef
Hol Chan, Shark Ray Alley, the barrier reef, and why the beach in front of your hotel has sea grass.
Read guideFestival weeks sell out
Reserve a cart before the island fills
Costa Maya, Easter and the September Celebrations book out months ahead, and six seaters go first. Send your dates and we will hold one for you.