In Guatemala, Christmas is a night more than a day. On Nochebuena, Thursday, December 24, 2026, families sit down to dinner, wait up for midnight and welcome the birth of the Child Jesus with fireworks, music and prayers (AGN). The month around it has its own fixed dates: the Quema del Diablo on December 7, the Virgen de Guadalupe on December 12, nine nights of posadas from December 16, and the Santo Tomás feast in Chichicastenango on December 21.
Quick summary: Nochebuena: Thursday, December 24, 2026, with dinner and fireworks at midnight. Christmas Day: Friday, December 25, a full paid holiday. December 24 is a half-day holiday from 12:00 (Labor Code Art. 127). The food: tamales colorados and negros, ponche de frutas, turkey, pan dulce, buñuelos. The season: Quema del Diablo (Dec 7) → Virgen de Guadalupe (Dec 12) → posadas (Dec 16-24) → Santo Tomás, Chichicastenango (Dec 21) → Nochebuena. Two fireworks are banned by law: silbadores and canchinflines. Midnight in Guatemala is midnight Central, 1 AM Eastern, 10 PM Pacific.
The December 2026 calendar
| Date (2026) | What | Paid holiday? |
|---|---|---|
| Mon, Dec 7, 6:00 PM | Quema del Diablo | No |
| Tue, Dec 8 | Immaculate Conception | Only where it is the local patron feast |
| Sat, Dec 12 | Virgen de Guadalupe | No |
| Wed, Dec 16 – Thu, Dec 24 | Las Posadas, nine nights | No |
| Fri, Dec 18 – Mon, Dec 21 | Santo Tomás festival, Chichicastenango: Palo Volador Dec 18-20, main day Dec 21 | Not nationally |
| Thu, Dec 24 | Nochebuena | Half day, from 12:00 |
| Fri, Dec 25 | Christmas Day | Yes |
| Thu, Dec 31 | New Year’s Eve | Half day, from 12:00 |
The holiday column is Article 127 of the Código de Trabajo, which lists December 24 and December 31 with the words mediodía, a partir de las doce horas (a half day, from twelve o’clock) and December 25 as a full day. The local-festivity rule is in the same article. With Christmas on a Friday in 2026, the holiday runs from Thursday noon into the weekend.
Nochebuena: the night of December 24
AGN’s description of the Guatemalan Christmas (December 2025) puts the weight on the 24th: families gather to share dinner, wait for midnight and celebrate the birth with fireworks, music and prayers. Burning gunpowder, it says, is a traditional way of marking the joy of the moment, and in recent years its responsible use has been promoted. AGN also lists concerts, pastorelas (nativity plays), masses and family convivios among the season’s community activities.
Two local variations on the night:
- Chichicastenango: the municipality’s cultural calendar lists a procession of the Niño Dios on December 24 through the town’s main streets, organised by the Catholic community.
- The posadas end that night. The ninth posada falls on the night of the 24th. See Las Posadas.
The Christmas table
| Dish or drink | What it is | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Tamales colorados and negros | Corn-dough tamales filled with meat and recados | AGN, 2025 |
| Ponche de frutas | Hot drink of pineapple, apple, plum, cinnamon and panela | AGN, 2025 |
| Turkey, pan dulce, buñuelos | The other staples of the Christmas table | AGN, 2025 |
| Christmas tamal | Richer than the everyday one: olives, capers, almonds, prunes, raisins and more meat, with turkey (chompipe) preferred | Diario de Centro América, 2025 |
| Stuffed hen (Zacapa) | Hen stuffed with chickpeas, peanuts and several meats, a ceremonial dish made only in these dates | Diario de Centro América, 2025 |
| Darasa (Izabal) | Plantain dough, coconut milk and fish, Garífuna in origin | Chef Yolanda Hernández, DCA 2025 |
| Caliente de piña | A western-highlands version of ponche: pineapple with chamomile, sometimes mamey, and no other fruit | DCA 2025 |
| Ponche de leche | Milk, eggs and cinnamon, made at home in the west; similar to, but not the same as, the rompope drunk in the city | DCA 2025 |
| Pepián de chompipe, caldo de olla (Comalapa) | Pepián on December 24, 25 and 31 and January 1; caldo de olla at Christmas | Chef Yolanda Hernández, DCA 2025 |
Hernández calls tamales, chocolate and ponche the pillars of Guatemala’s December celebrations. Our recipes: tamales colorados, tamales negros, ponche, buñuelos.
Nativity scenes and the zona 1 markets
The nacimiento is older than the Christmas tree in Guatemala. AGN credits Santo Hermano Pedro de Betancur with moving the nativity scene from the churches into the homes, and dates his own belén, built in his home for convalescents, to around 1658.
In December 2024 the Ministry of Culture walked the Christmas markets of Guatemala City’s historic centre (the bazaar on 6a calle, the Paseo de las Letras market on 19 calle and the stalls along 18 calle, all zona 1) and published what things cost:
| Item (December 2024) | Price |
|---|---|
| Coloured sawdust, one small measure | Q2 |
| Boxes of small tree baubles | Q10 (medium boxes Q30-Q70, large Q130) |
| Strings of lights, 50 bulbs | Q15 (1,000 bulbs, Q250) |
| Cascade lights, per string of 1,000 | up to Q375 |
| Chamomile garland | Q15 |
| Pine wreath | Q35 |
| Wicker deer, a pair | Q450 |
| Clothes for the Niño Dios and nativity figures | Q20 to Q375 by size |
The vendors the Ministry spoke to said fewer people now build nativity scenes and more put up Christmas trees, a custom they said began to take root in the 1980s. Those are 2024 prices; 2026’s will be set when the stalls open.
Fireworks: the two things the law bans
Fireworks are legal to make, store and sell under licence in Guatemala, under the Ley de Especies Estancadas. Two products are banned by name: Article 15 c) of Decreto Ley 123-85, added by Decreto 73-2007, prohibits importing, producing, manufacturing, storing, depositing, distributing and selling silbadores and canchinflines. Our fireworks law guide read the pyrotechnics laws in full on August 11, 2026 and found no national rule setting hours for setting fireworks off; noise rules, where they exist, are municipal. The safety advice from CONRED and the firefighters for December (one product at a time, never inside bottles or cans, never pointed at people) is on our Quema del Diablo page.
What closes
- Thursday, December 24: a paid half-day holiday from 12:00 under Article 127.
- Friday, December 25: a full paid holiday.
- Banks follow the Junta Monetaria’s own calendar, which does not match the Labor Code line for line; check bank holiday hours before planning an errand for December 24 or 31.
- For every other holiday of the year, see Guatemala holidays.
Visiting at Christmas
December is dry in the highlands and on the Pacific coast and was the busiest month for non-resident visitors in INGUAT’s 2025 count; the weather, the crowds and the month-by-month comparison are on our best time to visit by month guide. New Year’s Eve, a week later, has its own page: New Year’s Eve in Guatemala.
For the diaspora
- The midnight call: Guatemala does not use daylight saving time and the US is on standard time in December, so midnight in Guatemala is midnight Central, 1:00 AM Eastern and 10:00 PM Pacific.
- Sending money for the holidays: compare today’s rates on our live remittance comparison.
Sources
- Código de Trabajo, Decreto 1441, Article 127.
- AGN, La Navidad en Guatemala: fe, tradición y unión familiar cada 25 de diciembre, December 25, 2025; Nacimientos y posadas forman parte de la rica tradición del país.
- Diario de Centro América, Los sabores de diciembre, December 11, 2025.
- Ministerio de Cultura y Deportes, Ventas navideñas: entre la tradición y la evolución, December 13, 2024.
- Decreto Ley 123-85, Ley de Especies Estancadas, Article 15 c).
- Municipalidad de Santo Tomás Chichicastenango, Política Cultural Municipal (2023), December calendar.
Related guides
- Las Posadas — December 16-24
- Quema del Diablo — December 7
- Virgen de Guadalupe — December 12
- Santo Tomás festival — Chichicastenango, December 18-21
- New Year’s Eve in Guatemala — December 31
- Guatemala events calendar
Frequently Asked Questions
How is Christmas celebrated in Guatemala?
The big night is Christmas Eve, Nochebuena. The government news agency AGN describes families gathering on December 24 to share dinner, wait for midnight and celebrate the birth of the Child Jesus with fireworks, music and prayers. The season before it brings posadas (December 16-24), prayers and nativity scenes in homes, churches and public spaces. The table is built on tamales, colorados and negros, with hot ponche de frutas.
Is Christmas Eve a holiday in Guatemala?
Half of it. Article 127 of the Labor Code makes December 24 a paid holiday from midday (mediodía, a partir de las doce horas) and December 25 a full paid holiday. In 2026 that is Thursday afternoon, December 24, and Friday, December 25. Banks follow their own Junta Monetaria calendar, covered on our bank-holiday page.
What do Guatemalans eat at Christmas?
AGN lists tamales colorados and negros, ponche de frutas (pineapple, apple, plum, cinnamon and panela), turkey, pan dulce, buñuelos and home-made desserts. Chefs interviewed by Diario de Centro América in December 2025 add regional dishes: stuffed hen with chickpeas and several meats in Zacapa, darasa (plantain dough, coconut milk and fish) among the Garífuna in Izabal, caliente de piña in the western highlands, and pepián de chompipe in Comalapa on December 24, 25 and 31 and January 1.
Are fireworks legal at Christmas in Guatemala?
Fireworks are legal to make and sell under licence. Two products are banned by name: Article 15 c) of Decreto Ley 123-85, added by Decreto 73-2007, prohibits importing, producing, manufacturing, storing, depositing, distributing and selling silbadores and canchinflines. Our fireworks law guide found no national rule on discharge hours when it read the laws on August 11, 2026. AGN notes that authorities promote responsible use.
What time is midnight on Christmas Eve in Guatemala for family in the US?
Guatemala does not use daylight saving time, and in December the US is on standard time, so midnight in Guatemala is midnight Central, 1:00 AM Eastern and 10:00 PM Pacific.
