The Fiesta de Santo Tomás is Chichicastenango’s patron feast, and the municipality’s own calendar shows it lasts most of the month: it opens on December 5, fills the middle of the month with costumed convites (the calendar’s December 8 row starts with putting on the disfraces), and peaks from December 18 to 21, when the Palo Volador flies and the image of Santo Tomás goes out in procession with the town’s 14 cofradías.
Quick summary: Main day: Monday, December 21, 2026 (Santo Tomás Apóstol). Palo Volador: December 18-20 in the municipal calendar, which is Friday to Sunday in 2026 (in 2025 it was announced for December 19-20). The feria opens December 5 and the patronal activities close with a concert on December 23. Market-day shuttles run Thursday and Sunday, and the Guatemala City and Panajachel route pages also list a Wednesday/Saturday night-before run: Saturday, December 19 puts you in town for the Palo Volador on Sunday, December 20. The 2026 programme had not been published when we searched on September 25, 2026.
2026 at a glance
| Main day | Monday, December 21, 2026: procession of Santo Tomás and the 14 cofradías, mass, winter-solstice ceremony |
| Palo Volador | December 18, 19 and 20 in the municipal calendar (Friday to Sunday in 2026) |
| Feria opens | December 5 (Saturday in 2026): parade and concert |
| Closing concert | December 23 (Wednesday in 2026) |
| Octave procession | December 28 (Monday in 2026) |
| Market days | Thursday and Sunday: Chichicastenango market guide |
| Shuttle days | Market-day shuttles Thursday and Sunday; a Wednesday/Saturday night-before run from Guatemala City and Panajachel: from Antigua · from Guatemala City · from Panajachel |
| National holiday? | No. Labor Code Art. 127 adds the day of the local festivity as a paid holiday |
| 2026 programme | Not published when we searched on September 25, 2026 |
The programme, day by day
The Municipalidad de Santo Tomás Chichicastenango published a cultural calendar in its Política Cultural Municipal (2023), drawn up with local cultural groups and the Municipalidad Indígena and posted by the Ministry of Culture. Its December rows are the closest thing to an official programme until the 2026 one appears. The weekdays below are 2026’s; the activities are the ones the calendar lists for each date.
| Date (2026) | What the municipal calendar lists |
|---|---|
| First week of December | Change of the Palo Volador pole and a Maya ceremony (Alcaldía Indígena) |
| Sat, Dec 5 | Inauguration of the feria patronal: parade and concert |
| Mon, Dec 7 – Wed, Dec 9 | Procession from the Cofradía de la Inmaculada Concepción to the parish church (Dec 7) and back (Dec 9); the Convite Centenario of December 8 |
| Thu, Dec 10 | Women’s convite of December 10 |
| Sat, Dec 12 | Convite of December 12; procession and change of cofradía of the Virgen de Guadalupe; livestock fair |
| Sun, Dec 13 (second Sunday) | Santo Tomás half marathon |
| Mon, Dec 14 – Tue, Dec 15 | Women’s convite of December 14; children’s Baile Regional |
| Wed, Dec 16 | International concert |
| Fri, Dec 18 | Women’s convite of December 18; baile del torito, baile de los monos and Palo Volador; sarabanda (the fireworks makers’ show) |
| Sat, Dec 19 | Baile Regional; torito, monos and Palo Volador; concert; sarabanda |
| Sun, Dec 20 | Convite of December 20; concerts in front of the museum and the Alcaldía Indígena; transfer of the images; torito, monos and Palo Volador; baile social; sarabanda; serenade and dawn alborada; quema del castillo |
| Mon, Dec 21 | Procession of Santo Tomás and the 14 cofradías; winter-solstice celebration (aj q’ij); main day of the feria, with mass; Danza Tzijolaj at midday; baile de los mexicanos, baile de las varas; quema del castillo |
| Tue, Dec 22 | Convite of December 22; Santo Tomás is moved to his new cofradía |
| Wed, Dec 23 | Closing concert of the patronal activities |
| Thu, Dec 24 | Procession of the Niño Dios (Nochebuena) |
| Mon, Dec 28 | Mass and procession of the 14 cofradías for the octave of Santo Tomás |
The calendar is a 2023 document and the organisers set each year’s dates. Treat the day-by-day as the pattern to plan around, and confirm the 2026 programme when the municipality or the cofradías publish it.
The Palo Volador: the 2025 schedule
For the 2025 Mega Feria, the Municipalidad Indígena de Santo Tomás Chichicastenango and the 14 cofradías announced the pole’s own calendar (Diario de Centro América, November 19, 2025):
| 2025 date | Step |
|---|---|
| December 2 | The old pole is cut; ceremony and vigil at the site where the new one will stand |
| December 3, 7:00 | The new trunk is brought in and set up |
| December 17 | Ladders, ropes and the basket are installed |
| December 19, 7:00 | Ceremony led by a municipal official |
| December 19 and 20 | The Palo Volador dance |
The same article tells the story behind it: the brothers Jun Batz’ and Jun Ch’owen, who failed to defeat the twins Hunahpú and Ixbalanqué and were turned into monkeys. Before the trunk is raised, participants hold a sacred-fire ritual to ask nature’s permission and to choose the tree. The dancers, dressed as the monkeys of the story, climb to the top and come down tied to ropes, turning in a circle, to the sound of the marimba de tecomates. The article places the dance in the patron feasts of Quiché and Baja Verapaz, presented only on special dates.
In 2024, Prensa Comunitaria reported the Palo Volador running December 18-20, with preparatory rites from December 2, and wrote that the municipality receives thousands of tourists during the festivities.
December 19: the Baile Regional
The Ministry of Culture describes the Baile Regional del 19 de Diciembre as a traditional parade in which dozens of couples walk the streets to marimba music, wearing Maya dress from different regions of the country. December 19 is its main day, with more than 170 participants and dress from 88 pueblos; preparation starts at least a month before, with rituals that tie the participants to the image of Santo Tomás. On March 25, 2026, the Asociación Juvenil Masheña asked the Ministry to declare it Intangible Cultural Heritage of the Nation; the Ministry’s note records the request, not a declaration.
The church at the centre of it
The feast turns on the Templo de Santo Tomás. The Ministry of Culture’s registry dates it to the mid-16th century, renovated and enlarged by the Dominicans, and records that Maya rites are practised inside the church and on its steps alongside Catholic ones. It was declared a Monumento Histórico de la Época Hispánica by Acuerdo Ministerial 1210 of June 12, 1970. The church etiquette that matters for visitors (side door, photography) is on our market guide.
Planning the trip
- Pick the day by what you want to see. The Palo Volador is December 18-20 in the municipal calendar; the procession of Santo Tomás with the cofradías is December 21.
- Shuttles. On our Antigua, Guatemala City and Panajachel route pages, the market-day shuttles run Thursday and Sunday; the Guatemala City and Panajachel pages also list a Wednesday/Saturday night-before run (Guatemala Transportation, 14:00 from Guatemala City and 16:00 from Panajachel, where it needs a minimum of 3 passengers). In 2026 that means Thursday, December 17 (before the pole flies), Saturday, December 19 (the night-before run, in town for the Palo Volador on the 20th) or Sunday, December 20 (a Palo Volador day). None of the departures listed on those pages falls on Monday, December 21, 2026.
- Fireworks are part of the programme. The calendar lists a sarabanda by the fireworks makers on December 18, 19, 20, 21 and 22 and a quema del castillo on December 20 and 21. The national fireworks rules are on our fireworks law guide.
- The rest of December (Quema del Diablo, posadas, Christmas Eve) is on our Christmas in Guatemala guide.
Sources
- Municipalidad de Santo Tomás Chichicastenango / Ministerio de Cultura y Deportes, Política Cultural Municipal, Santo Tomás Chichicastenango, Quiché (2023), Tabla 06, December rows (sicultura.gob.gt, read September 25, 2026).
- Diario de Centro América, Danza del Palo Volador, November 19, 2025.
- Ministerio de Cultura y Deportes, note on the Baile Regional 19 de Diciembre, March 25, 2026.
- Sistema de Información Cultural (Ministerio de Cultura y Deportes), Templo de Santo Tomás listing.
- Prensa Comunitaria, December 2024, on the Palo Volador.
- Código de Trabajo, Article 127.
Related guides
- Chichicastenango market days — Thursday and Sunday, church etiquette
- Christmas in Guatemala — the December calendar around it
- Las Posadas — December 16-24
- Ferias in December — every patron-saint fair of the month
- Guatemala events calendar
Frequently Asked Questions
When is the Santo Tomás festival in Chichicastenango in 2026?
The main day is Monday, December 21, 2026, the feast of Santo Tomás Apóstol. The municipality’s cultural calendar (Política Cultural Municipal, 2023) opens the feria patronal on December 5 with a parade and concert and closes the patronal activities with a concert on December 23; the octave procession of the 14 cofradías follows on December 28. The 2026 programme had not been published when we searched on September 25, 2026.
When can you see the Palo Volador in Chichicastenango?
The municipal calendar lists the Palo Volador on December 18, 19 and 20, together with the baile del torito and the baile de los monos. In 2025 the Municipalidad Indígena and the 14 cofradías announced the dance for December 19 and 20 (Diario de Centro América, November 2025), and Prensa Comunitaria reported it running December 18-20 in 2024. For 2026, December 18-20 falls Friday to Sunday.
Is there a shuttle from Antigua to Chichicastenango on December 21, 2026?
On our Antigua, Guatemala City and Panajachel route pages, the market-day shuttles run on Thursday and Sunday; the Guatemala City and Panajachel pages also list a Wednesday and Saturday night-before run (14:00 from Guatemala City, 16:00 from Panajachel). December 21, 2026 is a Monday, and none of those departures falls on it. The closest are Thursday, December 17, Saturday, December 19 (the night-before run, which puts you in town for the Palo Volador on Sunday the 20th) and Sunday, December 20.
Is December 21 a holiday in Chichicastenango?
Article 127 of the Labor Code includes the day of the local festivity (el día de la festividad de la localidad) among the paid holidays, and the municipal calendar names December 21 as the main day of the feria in honour of Santo Tomás Apóstol. December 21 is not a national holiday.
What is the Baile Regional of December 19?
A traditional parade in Chichicastenango in which dozens of couples walk the streets to marimba music wearing Maya dress from different regions of the country. The Ministry of Culture says December 19 is its main day, with more than 170 people and dress from 88 pueblos, and that preparation starts at least a month before with rituals. In March 2026 the Asociación Juvenil Masheña asked the Ministry to declare it Intangible Cultural Heritage of the Nation.
