⚠️ Freshness — read this first. The 2026 official program has not been published yet (checked July 11, 2026). Every time and price below is labelled with the year it comes from — most are the 2025 edition. The Municipalidad de Sumpango released the 2025 program on October 30-31, so the 2026 details should land in mid-October 2026. We update this page when they do.
The giant kites do not fly. That is the one thing to know before you spend a Sunday and $25-$65 getting to Sumpango, and almost nobody tells you.
The Ministerio de Cultura y Deportes says the barriletes range from 2 to 22 metres and “pueden o no volarse” — they may or may not be flown, depending on surface area (mcd.gob.gt). In practice, the 10-22 metre monsters you have seen in photographs are raised and displayed as static exhibition pieces. In the 2025 program, the kites actually launched into the air were the 4-metre ones, at 14:00.
This is the #1 tourist disappointment at Sumpango. It is not a reason to skip the festival — it is a reason to go with the right expectation: you are going to a monumental open-air art exhibition with a kite flight attached, not to a giant-kite launch.
Quick summary: Sumpango’s Festival de Barriletes Gigantes is on November 1 every year — in 2026 that is a Sunday and a national asueto. The giant kites (up to 22 m) are static exhibition pieces; only the 4-metre kites were scheduled to fly, at 14:00 in the 2025 program (2026 program not yet published). Entry was free in 2025 in both Sumpango and Santiago Sacatepéquez. Shuttles from Antigua run $25-$65 per person; only the $65 Antigua Tours by Elizabeth Bell departure is explicitly dated for Sunday, November 1st, 2026. Sumpango is 13 km from Antigua but plan 1h30 each way on the day — 2018 traffic queues hit 22 km. Bring cash in small bills. Sleep in Antigua, not Sumpango.
Quick facts
| Date | November 1, every year — in 2026, a Sunday and a national asueto |
| Venue (Sumpango) | Campo Municipal, km 43.5 Carretera Interamericana (2025) |
| Venue (Santiago Sacatepéquez) | Inside the General Cemetery (2025) |
| Entry | Free in 2025, both towns — organisers have floated charging (see below) |
| Distance from Antigua | 13 km, ~21 min normal driving (map-app estimate — not festival-day reality) |
| Plan for, on the day | 1h30 each way (operator’s own festival-day planning figure) |
| Do the giant kites fly? | No — 2-22 m kites “pueden o no volarse” (Ministerio de Cultura). The 4 m kites flew at 14:00 in 2025 |
| 2026 program | Not published as of July 11, 2026 — expected ~Oct 30 |
What actually happens, and when — 2025 edition
Everything in this table is from the 2025 program as reported by La Hora, quoting the Municipalidad and the Comité Permanente. The 2026 program is not out yet. Do not book a non-refundable anything around these hours.
| Time (2025) | What happens |
|---|---|
| Oct 31, 19:00 | Lunada — the night-before gathering |
| 08:00 | Activities begin |
| 08:30 | Giant-kite exhibition opens — the 10-22 m pieces go up, on the ground |
| 14:00 | The 4-metre kites are flown — this is the actual flight |
| 17:00 | Open-air marimba orchestra concert |
| 07:00-18:00 | Grounds hours, per a 2025 event listing |
The catch nobody mentions: the shuttles get you out before the kites go up. Every $25–$30 shuttle below that states a return time leaves at 14:00 — the exact hour the 4-metre kites were scheduled to fly in the 2025 program. The $65 guided tour returns even earlier (~1pm). So on the published timings, the standard round trip has you in the car park at the moment the only kites that actually fly are going up. If seeing kites in the air is the point of your trip, ask the operator directly whether they hold for the flight before you pay — and be aware that the 2026 program is not out yet, so the flight hour could move.
Entry: free in 2025 — but verify before you go
In 2025, entry was free at both festivals. The Municipalidad de Sumpango and the Comité Permanente were explicit: “el ingreso al festival será gratuito y abierto a todo el público” and “No existe ningún cobro por acceder a nuestra población y al campo de fútbol.” Santiago Sacatepéquez was also listed as free in 2025. It was free in 2022 as well.
The honest caveat: in 2023 the mayor said organisers were “evalúan dinámicas para cobrar ingreso” — evaluating ways to charge admission — calling it a complicated subject. No amount was ever set and no fee has been announced for 2026. Treat “free” as 2025’s fact, not a 2026 guarantee.
Getting there from Antigua
Shuttles and tours
| Operator | Price (per person) | Departs / returns | Year stated? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Atitrans — shuttle only | $25 round trip | dep 08:00, return 14:00 | Listing undated (“November 1st”) |
| ShuttleNation | $25 round trip | dep 08:00, return 14:00 | Listing undated (“only on November 1st”); hotel pickup |
| Guatemala Transportation | $30 | dep 07:00, return 14:00 | Listing undated |
| Atitrans — guided tour, both towns | $50 | dep 08:00, return 14:00 | Listing undated; includes guide + box lunch; Santiago and Sumpango |
| Antigua Tours by Elizabeth Bell | $65 | dep 7:30am, return ~1pm | ✅ Explicitly “Sunday, November 1st, 2026” |
⚠️ On the undated listings: these are the listed prices, with no year stated. Prices and departure times change year to year — confirm both when booking. Only the Elizabeth Bell tour is explicitly dated for November 1, 2026; that is the single 2026-dated source we could find. Atitrans lists an Antigua office at 2a Calle Oriente 12.
💡 Continuing to Lake Atitlán? Guatemala Transportation lists a $48 variant that drops you in Panajachel after the festival instead of returning you to Antigua. If Atitlán was already on your route, that turns a day trip into a leg — see our Antigua to Lake Atitlán route guide for what the normal (non-festival) run costs and how long it takes.
Chicken bus
A 2018 traveller report — the only bus account we have — describes it this way: there is no direct bus from Antigua under normal conditions; you change at Chimaltenango; the Chimaltenango → Sumpango leg cost Q5; on festival day buses ran roughly every 10 minutes; total around 1 hour.
We are not going to publish a total. The Antigua → Chimaltenango fare is not published anywhere we could verify, so any “total chicken-bus cost” you see (including from us, previously) is guesswork. Bring cash and ask at the terminal.
What we deliberately do not tell you
There is no verifiable published source for the Uber price from Antigua to Sumpango (or whether Uber even serves Sumpango), the taxi fare on November 1, the official parking fee, the 2026 road-closure plan, or toilet provision. Route-planner apps will happily generate a taxi price for this trip — that is an algorithm’s estimate, not a published fare, and we will not repeat it. We would rather leave a gap than strand you with an invented number.
Plan 1h30 each way — not 21 minutes
Sumpango is 13 km from Antigua. A map app will tell you 21 minutes. On November 1 that number is fiction.
- A shuttle operator plans 1h30 each way on festival day. That is the number to plan your day around.
- In 2018, traffic queues on the Interamericana reached 22 km. Entrances were reported at km 40, 43.5, 44.5 and 47, and the advice that year was to leave Sumpango after 20:00 to miss the worst of the jam.
- November 1, 2026 is a Sunday and a national asueto. That is peak domestic family travel — Guatemalan families are going to the cemeteries and to the festival on the same day you are. The traffic, not the kites, is the real story.
Traveller reports suggest arriving around 06:00 to watch the kites being assembled and to beat the crowds. Note this conflicts with a 2025 listing that gave the grounds’ hours as 07:00–18:00 — we cannot confirm what happens at the gates before 07:00, so treat the 06:00 tip as a traveller’s advice, not a published opening time. La Hora reported (2025) parking for 14,000+ vehicles across 10 entry gates.
Sumpango or Santiago Sacatepéquez?
| Sumpango | Santiago Sacatepéquez | |
|---|---|---|
| Where | Municipal football field beside the cemetery, km 43.5 | Inside the General Cemetery — steep climb up |
| Scale | 65,500 visitors (2024), 100,000+ (2023); ~50-60 collectives building kites | Smaller |
| Timing | All day; 4 m kites flew ~14:00 (2025) | A morning event (in 2023: exhibition 07:00-08:00 to 16:00, flight 08:00-10:00) |
| Entry | Free (2025) | Free (2025) |
⚠️ Do not count on a kite flight at Santiago on November 1, 2026. The sources conflict: in 2023, Prensa Libre put the Santiago flight on November 1 in the morning. In 2025, Prensa Libre put the exhibition on November 1 and the flight on November 2. Which one applies in 2026 is unconfirmed. If Santiago is the reason you are travelling, contact the municipality before you commit to a date.
Both towns are Maya-Kaqchikel, and the Ministerio de Cultura y Deportes describes the tradition as UNESCO-recognised. Doing both towns in one day is a real, sold product — that is what the $50 Atitrans tour is.
Where to stay: Antigua, not Sumpango
If you are coming from abroad, Antigua is the practical base: every shuttle and hotel-pickup service we found runs from there, and Sumpango itself is a small town without a visitor hotel scene. (To be clear about who else is there — the crowd is overwhelmingly Guatemalan day-trippers, 65,500 of them in 2024, not hotel guests.) If you want the 06:00 arrival, book Antigua for the night of October 31.
Where to stay in Antigua Guatemala
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Practical checklist
- Cash only, small bills. Assume no cards anywhere on the grounds.
- Informal parking: traveller accounts (blog, ~2025) suggest having Q20-Q30 in cash on hand. No official parking price is published — this is a traveller report, not a posted rate.
- Arrive early — around 06:00 per traveller accounts, to see the kites assembled and to beat both the crowd and the road.
- Pickpockets work the tight crowds (visitor reports). Go early, keep your bag in front of you.
- Food on the grounds, per traveller accounts: atole, chuchitos, elotes, pepián.
- Fiambre is not festival street food. It is the November 1-2 dish, eaten at the graves with family. We have found no source saying it is sold at the festival grounds — do not travel hungry expecting it.
- Sun and open ground. The Sumpango venue is an open football field.
Common questions
Do the giant kites fly? No. The 2-22 m kites “pueden o no volarse” per the Ministerio de Cultura; the giants are static exhibition pieces. The 4-metre kites flew at 14:00 in the 2025 program.
What is the entry fee? Free in 2025 in both towns. Organisers floated charging in 2023 but never set an amount. Re-check before you go.
How long does the trip take? Plan 1h30 each way on November 1 — not the 21 minutes a map shows for the 13 km.
When does the 2026 program come out? The 2025 program was released October 30-31, so expect the 2026 one in mid-October 2026. As of July 11, 2026 it is not published. We update this page when it lands.
Related
- Día de los Santos in Guatemala — the holiday the kite festival belongs to: fiambre, the cemeteries, and why kites at all
- Antigua to Lake Atitlán — if you take the $48 Panajachel-drop variant, this is what comes next
- Guatemala events calendar — every major recurring event, by month
