Semana Santa

What: Cel­e­brat­ed in almost all Span­ish speak­ing coun­tries  Sem­ana San­ta cel­e­brates the last week of Jesus life, includ­ing the cru­ci­fix­ion, res­ur­rec­tion and ascen­sion, with either solemn pro­ces­sions or colour­ful cel­e­bra­tions, floats, re-enact­ments, parades and read­ing of reli­gious rites to mark the end of lent and pay homage.

The most icon­ic cel­e­bra­tions take place in Spain itself led by a series of reli­gious broth­er­hoods who, as well as parad­ing floats and re-enact­ing the east­er sto­ry of Jesus, march in a series of pro­ces­sions known as pasos – where begin­ning on good Fri­day, life­size stat­ues of the cru­ci­fix­ion and of the vir­gin Mary are car­ried through the streets of towns by a series of bare­foot nazarenos – fol­low­ers of Christ – who are dressed head to toe in pur­ple robes and are hold­ing either can­dles or chant­i­ng in uni­son as they slow­ly make their way to the city’s main church to cel­e­brate East­er Sun­day.

When:  The exact date of East­er Sun­day and the week pre­ced­ing vary each year, but you can expect Sem­ana San­ta to fall in ear­ly April and the build-up includ­ing good Fri­day to take place in the week pri­or to East­er Sun­day.

Where: With Sem­ana San­ta being cel­e­brat­ed all across the world, the tra­di­tions and fes­tiv­i­ties vary from coun­try to coun­try. For the best and most tra­di­tion­al expe­ri­ence it’s rec­om­mend­ed to head to spain and in par­tic­u­lar either Seville on the street of Via de la Pla­ta for the pro­ces­sions of ‘pasos’ and the parad­ing of vast floats accom­pa­nied by the the icon­ic nazarenos in tra­di­tion­al pointy or head to Caban­il­las, where on East­er Sun­day one local is select­ed to play the role of Judas – and angry locals do their best to catch him and ‘avenge Jesus’ by hunt­ing him through the streets.

For the oth­er Span­ish speak­ing coun­tries where Sem­ana San­ta is cel­e­brat­ed the best view­ing spots are as fol­lowed:

For Quito, Ecuador the mark­ing of Sem­ana San­ta begins with the good Fri­day parade where a pro­ces­sion of pur­ple robed devo­tees line the streets car­ry­ing floats and stat­ues through the city cen­tre which con­tin­ues until the end of East­er Sun­day, with the music, food and colours of the pro­ces­sions increas­ing reflect­ing the jour­ney of Jesus.

For San Miguel del Allende, Mex­i­co, the fes­ti­val is com­pa­ra­ble to Lewes Bon­fire Night in the UK – just with more fire­works and less health and safe­ty ! – with loud parades, floats, par­ties hap­pen­ing dur­ing the lead up to the end of lent, with the high­light being the explod­ing of a repli­ca Judas and hat­ed world or polit­i­cal fig­ures with fire­works.

For Izta­pala­pa City, Mex­i­co, a full scale re-enact­ment of the last days of Jesus takes place and has been run­ning for the last 150 years, with the event being nation­al­ly tele­vised and held in the nation­al park the roles of Jesus, the roman sol­diers and the apos­tles are all high­ly sought after and require months of ded­i­ca­tion and train­ing to per­fect.

For Antigua, Guatemala, the unof­fi­cial home of Sem­ana San­ta, the streets become alive with colour, with petal designs, murals and coloured car­pets lin­ing the streets to wel­come the pro­ces­sion of pur­ple robed nazarenos car­ry­ing stat­ues of Jesus and Mary to remem­ber East­er Sun­day.

Dura­tion: While Sem­ana San­ta lasts a full week, the parades real­ly kick into gear from good Fri­day and last until the evening mass on east­er Sun­day – and while there’s no set time for each event, expect to see sev­er­al pro­ces­sions a day begin­ning after morn­ing mass (approx­i­mate­ly 10am) and last­ing until the ear­ly hours from the Fri­day to the Sun­day.

Tick­ets: There is no cost to attend or watch Sem­ana San­ta or the parades – although con­tri­bu­tions to the var­i­ous church­es host­ing the event are always great­ly received.

Need to Know:  Wher­ev­er you choose to cel­e­brate Sem­ana San­ta be sure to book in advance, expect crowds and depend­ing on your des­ti­na­tion expect heat and the occa­sion­al fire­crack­er thrown in your direc­tion.