Garífuna Day in Livingston, November 26 2026: the Yurumein, what happens and how to get there

Garífuna Day, the Día Nacional del Pueblo Garífuna, is November 26, and in 2026 it falls on a Thursday. It is celebrated in Livingston and Puerto Barrios, on Guatemala’s Caribbean coast in Izabal, and it opens with the Yurumein, the re-enactment of the arrival of the first Garífuna on that coast more than 200 years ago (AGN). Every fact below carries its source and year, because the 2026 programme is not out yet.

Quick summary: Date: Thursday November 26 2026, fixed every year by Decreto 83-96 (AGN, Diario de Centro América, Prensa Libre). Where: Livingston and Puerto Barrios, Izabal. Main act: the Yurumein, held since 1996 (AGN): two groups, dances and songs, a cross with beach soil, drums, then a thanksgiving Mass. Also reported in past years: a march, drumming, a gastronomy festival, a cultural night and events starting the weekend before. 2026 programme: not published as of September 29 2026. Public holiday? No. Getting there: bus to Puerto Barrios, then boat.

Quick facts

Why November 26

AGN reports that Guatemala’s Congress “estableció el 26 de noviembre como Día Nacional del Pueblo Garífuna, mediante el Decreto 83-96” (set November 26 as National Garífuna Day through Decreto 83-96), to protect and promote the development of the language, culture, customs, resources and specific forms of organisation of the community. Prensa Libre describes the day as “instituido desde 1996 por el decreto legislativo 83-96” (in place since 1996 under legislative decree 83-96).

Diario de Centro América adds the wider context: it was from the Peace Accords onward that the Guatemalan state recognised the Garífuna as one of the country’s four indigenous peoples. We could not retrieve the text of the decree itself; the date and decree number here come from those three outlets.

The Yurumein, step by step

The Yurumein is the centre of the day. AGN describes it as the representation of the arrival of the first Garífuna inhabitants in Izabal, “hace más de 200 años”, performed since 1996, after the signing of the Peace Accords. This is how AGN and Prensa Libre describe it:

1. Two groups set out with dances and songs. In Livingston, Prensa Libre reported in 2017 and 2018 that one group leaves from the beach of the capitanía (la playa de la capitanía) and the other from the barrio San José.
2. They meet at a cross on the main avenue. AGN describes it as a “cruz con tierra de la playa, que se decora con plátanos, cocos, velas y agua” (a cross with soil from the beach, decorated with plantains, coconuts, candles and water). Prensa Libre explains the symbols: the soil stands for the place where they landed, the plantain and coconut for the only food they had, and the candle for light.
3. The drums speed up. When the two groups meet there is a big celebration, the drumming grows more intense and they become a single group (AGN).
4. Thanksgiving Mass. The joined group goes to the church for a thanksgiving Mass (AGN).

Prensa Libre wrote in 2017 that the Yurumein takes place early in the morning. We found no published start time for 2026.

Guatemala.com says the best-known part of the celebration in Livingston is the staging of the arrival of the first inhabitants, among them one of the most prominent heroes and leaders, Marcos Sánchez. Prensa Libre, in 2016, named him Marco Sánchez Díaz.

In Puerto Barrios, AGN reported on November 26 2022 that the commemoration would begin that Saturday with the Yurumein and a blessing of families in the barrio El Rastro, where the thanksgiving Mass was to be held.

What else happens, by year

No 2026 programme was out when we checked, so here is what was reported in past years. Treat it as the pattern, not a promise.

Prensa Libre calls Livingston La Buga, which it glosses as La Boca, because the town sits at the mouth of the Río Dulce.

The food

The Ministry of Culture names tapado, a traditional dish, among the elements of Garífuna identity on the day. Prensa Libre (2016) describes tapado as a seafood soup and lists sopa de caracol (conch soup), machuca, ceviche and rice and beans with coconut, with coconut bread, casabe, banana bread and pan bulá among the baked goods. To cook it at home, see our tapado recipe.

When did the Garífuna arrive?

More than 200 years ago, in AGN’s words. AGN also wrote in 2022 that, according to historians, a Garífuna group settled on the coast of Izabal in November 1801, and in 2018 Prensa Libre dated the arrival 216 years earlier. Other official texts, including a 2023 AGN article and a 2022 Diario de Centro América column, give a different, older date that does not match these, so we do not use it.

The UNESCO listing Language, dance and music of the Garifuna names four countries: Belize, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua. It was originally proclaimed in 2001 and inscribed in 2008 on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

Is November 26 a public holiday?

No. Article 127 of the Labour Code lists Guatemala’s paid holidays, and November 26 is not on the list. The same article includes each town’s own feast day, but we found no official statement that Garífuna Day is Livingston’s, so we do not claim it. See Guatemala’s holidays.

Getting to Livingston

From Guatemala City, one way in is a Litegua bus to Puerto Barrios and then a boat across to Livingston. Schedules, docks, fares and the last boats are on Guatemala City to Livingston, which also covers the Río Dulce option, and the bus leg is on Guatemala City to Puerto Barrios.

Related

• Livingston, the town and Izabal department.
• While you are there: Siete Altares, Livingston.
• November ferias and events and every event on the calendar.
• In the United States: Guatemalan events in the USA.

Sources: AGN, November 26 2022 and November 26 2023; Diario de Centro América, November 22 2022; Prensa Libre, November 26 2016, November 26 2017 and November 26 2018; Ministry of Culture and Sports, November 27 2024; Guatemala.com, November 25 2020; UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage list; Guatemalan Labour Code, Art. 127. All read on September 29 2026. Spanish quotations are left in the original with an English gloss outside the quotation marks.