Two Ways to Experience the Guatemalan Semana Santa Processions

Semana Santa (Holy Week) refers to the week leading up to Easter. Many Catholic countries around the world celebrate this week for its religious significance of Jesus’ sacrifice, and of these countries, Guatemala is a wonderful place to see the processions. Here are two places that will give you completely different experiences of Semana Santa, and how to connect with the locals for a better experience.

If you’ve ever been to Guatemala during the week of Semana Santa (the week leading up to Easter), you’ll know that it is a week of absolute devotion by the Christian population. It is estimated that over 80% of Guatemala’s 18.7 million people practice some form of Christianity, meaning you can expect to see every region participating in this week of celebration.

Depending on where you visit, you will likely get to witness many processions all throughout the week. Some larger cities will have multiple processions occurring all at once, where as some smaller towns will have a schedule of the week developed by their local church. Each procession consists of a few key elements: the music, cucuruchos, andas, and alfombras.

• The music plays a vital role. Sometimes the procession will be followed by a marching band, and in smaller communities they may just have a speaker.

✨🎵 I’ve embedded a typical procession song below so you can play while reading this article for some ambience! 🎶✨

• Cucuruchos (directly translating to cones in Spanish) are the devoted people who carry the procession floats. They are often dressed in purple robes to symbolise the suffering of Christ and to demonstrate their devotion. They hold the float on their shoulders and shift their feet in time with each other to move forward. Often the procession will include shift changes to ensure everyone who wants to participate has a turn (and probably to avoid injuries).
• The andas are the large floats which bare the religious imagery. They’re often made from wood (which looks heavy) and have statues of angels, Jesus carrying the cross or the Virgin Mary.

• The path of the processions follow alfombras (carpets) that line the street. Families create the carpets using flower petals or coloured sawdust, and sometimes get creative with other materials such as vegetables and fruit. Some families with have woken up at 3am to make the carpet for the procession that’ll pass through their street at 3pm. It is a labour of love and the final designs are incredible. When you’re in Guatemala for Semana Santa, don’t miss out on viewing the creation of these incredible carpets.

Below are two easily accessible towns for tourists to join in and enjoy the processions, one setting you up for easy access to many processions and aesthetic photo opportunities, and the other giving you a local experience in a small town.

Semana Santa in Antigua

Antigua is a great location due to its easy access to multiple processions, and most of all, the volcanos in the background and beautiful sunsets make for the most gorgeous photos and videos. Antigua is one of the main destinations for tourists as it is known as a cultural hub, and during Semana Santa it is no different. There are many tourist activities around the town, and in the afternoon and evenings, tourists can wander the streets to see multiple processions. 

I visited for the first half of Semana Santa straight after seeing my first ever quetzal, and was able to see multiple processions every evening. Every 3 blocks I would have to stop due to the crowds gathering to see the procession pass. My favourite part was watching the people who’s job is to raise the powerlines our of the way of the andas. They would use large ornamental sticks to lift them high enough to let the procession pass underneath without any issues.

Check the map below for places to stay, or check here if hostels are more your vibe and price range.

Below are some options for the types of tourism adventures there are in the areas surrounding Antigua.

Semana Santa in San Juan la Laguna, Lake Atitlán

My second recommendation is Lake Atitlan, undoubtedly one of the most beautiful places to stay a few nights in Guatemala. I’ve visited this lake five times across two trips to Guatemala because I’m always drawn back to the beauty of the nature, views and people. And of all the towns, San Juan in particular stands out.

San Juan la Laguna boasts colourful streets and beautiful artesanals and textiles, however, despite its large numbers of daily tourists, at night it returns to being a local town.

This is because most people leave before sunset for the last ferry, meaning you can be one of the few tourists to experience Semana Santa the way a small local town would. 

I stayed with a wonderful host family (which I will be writing about shortly) and they invited me to join them for the processions and major celebrations. 

On the Wednesday afternoon the women wore their traditional attire for a procession, adorning fruits on their heads. The traffic on the highway was bad so I arrived 20 minutes after it finished, which was disappointing but the photos looked incredible. 

That evening the children had their own procession which was very cute to watch. The son of my host family proudly invited me to join the procession around the town, and gave me many thumbs up when it was his turn carrying the anda.

Over the rest of the week we attended many other processions and celebrations, including a day where the porcelain Jesus which usually lays in a glass display was taken out and hung on the cross, adorned with flowers. It seemed the whole town was in the church watching the ceremony.

How to experience Semana Santa with the locals

The biggest piece of advice I can give for a Semana Santa (or any travel during local holidays) would be to stay with a local for a better experience. In Antigua our Airbnb host invited us to make the alfombras with his family, and the time I spent in San Juan at the lake was filled with invitations to all the town’s events.

Ways you can stay with or spend time with locals:

• Companies like Airbnb and Vrbo are great options as often you’ll be staying in someone’s house, and they’ll often want to help you out and give travel advice.
• Search for homestay opportunities (I’m writing a piece on this currently).
• Couchsurfing or similar platforms allow you to request a stay or plan to hangout with locals who are keen to share their city and culture.

Which option should I choose?

Obviously choosing both is ideal, but be warned that the Panamerican highway is incredibly busy during this holiday period, and you’ll likely be sitting in your shuttle/chicken bus for more hours than anticipated (and potentially paying a little more).

If you only have enough time for one, I would recommend picking based on whether you’d like a local experience with a family or access to many processions and photo opportunities.

Which option are you choosing?

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