An experience like no other, we truly believe it’s an event that should be on everyone’s bucket list.

Celebrations begin with Carnival which sees local children dress up, and break cascarones (brightly painted egg shells, filled with pica pica or conffetti), over each other. Carnival is then followed by Ash Wednesday which officially marks the beginning of Lent.

Throughout Lent, different churches take turns to hold a Holy Vigil or velación, every Friday. The velaciones are stunning displays, usually representing scenes from the Bible, and illustrated using century-old statues of Jesus and the Virgin Mary set against dramatic backdrops and adorned with an intricate carpet made out of dyed sawdust, pine needles, flowers and exotic fruit.

Each Sunday in Lent, you will find a procession of Jesus followed by the Virgin Mary, solemnly making their way through the cobblestone streets of Antigua, accompanied by somber funeral marches played by a brass band. These processions remember the events surrounding the passion of Christ with beautiful antique life-size sculptures atop ornate wooden platforms carried by up to ninety purple-robed penitents, known as cucuruchos.

Huge numbers gather to await the procession, the scent of incense is evident – necessary for the purification of the air, and countless families spend hours preparing breathtaking carpets, carefully creating unique designs using dyed sawdust and wood shavings, pine needles, flowers, fruit and vegetables and many other ingenious materials. These fantastic collage-like carpets are hours in the making, only to be gone within seconds as the procession passes.

These magnificent festivities culminate with Holy Week or Semana Santa which sees a great deal more celebration, Holy Vigils, and up to four processions in one same day!

The beginning of November typically brings clear blue skies, bright sunshine, and increased winds – excellent weather which usually means stunning sunsets… and more importantly the perfect conditions for flying kites!

On the 1 st of November we celebrate Day of the Dead and cemeteries are busy with families visiting their departed loved ones, cleaning graves and adorning them with flowers and wreaths. For today, it is also customary to prepare a dish known as Fiambre – a delicious traditional salad, eaten only at this time of year, and which is brimming with more cold cuts and pickled goods than you could possibly imagine! Fiambre is eaten as a family meal, in the cemetery – often lovingly laid out on graves as though they were dinner tables!

Many people, including children, also fly kites – which some believe is a way to send messages to those dearly departed. In two villages a Festival de Barriletes or Kite Festival is held where groups of participants, young and old, display amazing works of art, which they have painstakingly created over months and months using a myriad of shapes and colours in tissue paper, perfectly pieced together to depict our fascinating cultural heritage and important messages addressing topics such as peace and tolerance; all this forming spectacular kites, some of up to 20m (65ft) in diametre!