July 2027 sits in the middle of Guatemala’s rainy season but brings it a break: INSIVUMEH describes a dry spell, the canícula, in July and part of August, and in our 1996-2025 reanalysis series highland rain falls to 10-11% of the annual total, down from 16-20% in June. The month’s dated events are religious and cultural: the Virgen del Carmen on Friday 16 July, Santiago Apóstol on Sunday 25 July, and Cobán’s Rabin Ajaw festival, which in 2026 opened on Thursday 23 July.

For the full-year picture, start with the best time to visit Guatemala by month; the wetter months on either side are covered in Guatemala in June and Guatemala in August.

TL;DR: The highland dip month: 10-11% of the year’s rain in Antigua, Guatemala City, Lake Atitlán and Xela, against 16-20% in June. Rabin Ajaw (Cobán) 2027 dates not in the sources checked; 2026’s festival opened 23 July. Virgen del Carmen is Friday 16 July; Santiago is Sunday 25 July. No Article 127 national holiday falls in July. Fifth-busiest month in INGUAT’s 2025 count.

The canícula, region by region

INSIVUMEH’s 2018 climate study explains the canícula as a dry period in July and part of August, caused by a reversal of the trade winds and a strengthening of the Gulf of Mexico anticyclone; when those weaken, heavy rain returns to complete the season in September and October. The table uses July values from our parent guide’s 1996-2025 Open-Meteo ERA5 reanalysis series (°C, °F in brackets), with June’s share alongside for comparison. They are historical model averages, not a forecast.

DestinationJuly high/lowJuly share of the year’s rainJune share
Antigua (1,540 m)25/16 (76/61)10%19%
Guatemala City—11%20%
Lake Atitlán, Panajachel (1,580 m)23/17 (73/62)10%18%
Xela (2,360 m)19/13 (66/55)10%16%
Tikal (300 m)32/23 (89/73)9%16%
Flores—11%16%
Semuc Champey (Lanquín)—10%12%
Livingston (sea level)29/24 (84/75)12%12%
Monterrico (sea level)30/24 (86/76)11%18%

The parent guide’s temperature table does not cover Guatemala City, Flores or Semuc Champey. The dip is sharpest in the highlands, Petén and on the Pacific coast. Livingston, on the Caribbean, gets the same 12% share in July as in June, so the July dip does not show up on the Caribbean coast. The canícula page follows the most recent season.

July 2027 dates

Date (2027)EventWhat the date rests on
Friday 16 JulyVirgen del Carmen: Huehuetenango’s Fiestas Julias and the Cerrito del Carmen feria in Guatemala City’s zona 1Church feast day, 16 July every year
2027 dates not in the sources checkedRabin Ajaw, Festival Folklórico Nacional, Cobán2026 edition opened Thursday 23 July
Sunday 25 JulySantiago Apóstol, patron of Antigua Guatemala, Santiago Atitlán, Esquipulas and other Santiago townsSaint’s feast day, 25 July every year

Virgen del Carmen. Prensa Libre notes that the Church celebrates Our Lady of Carmel on 16 July. Its 2025 guide to the Fiestas Julias names Huehuetenango (Virgen del Carmen, 16 July) and Esquipulas (Santiago Apóstol) as the month’s patron fairs, and gave 21-28 July for the Santiago festivities in the department of Chiquimula that year. Chiquimula city’s own patron fiesta is not in July: the Ministry of Culture’s Sistema de Información Cultural lists it on 15 August, for the Virgen del Tránsito. The two event pages carry each fair’s own programme history.

Rabin Ajaw. The Ministry of Culture and Sports reported that the 58th Festival Folklórico Nacional Rab’in Ajaw began on Thursday 23 July 2026 with a parade from El Calvario church to Parque Central La Paz in Cobán. Diario de Centro América reported on 27 July 2026 that each of the 142 participants gave her address in her mother tongue at Tribuna Monja Blanca, and that Elena Jannileth Mateo Juan of Santa Cruz Barillas, Huehuetenango, was elected Rab’in Ajaw 2026-2027 at the closing. The festival is declared Intangible Cultural Heritage of the Nation, per the ministry.

Santiago Apóstol. AGN lists Santiago de Guatemala (Antigua Guatemala), Santiago Atitlán, Santiago Coatepeque, Esquipulas, Santiago Sacatepéquez and Patzicía among the places that keep him as patron. The July ferias calendar lists the month’s fairs by department.

Holidays. No date on Article 127’s national list falls in July. Local feast days apply only in the town that keeps them; see Guatemala holidays 2027.

Storms in July

The eastern Pacific season has been open since 15 May and the Atlantic since 1 June. In the US National Hurricane Center’s 1991-2020 averages, the eastern Pacific’s first hurricane forms in late June and its first major hurricane in mid-July. Those are basin-wide averages; for anything active, use the hurricane tracker.

Crowds

INGUAT counted 283,091 non-resident visitors in July 2025, fifth of the twelve months, against 257,496 in June. Those are 2025 counts, not a forecast for 2027.

Sources

Frequently Asked Questions

Does it rain in Guatemala in July?

Yes, but less than in June. INSIVUMEH describes a dry spell called the canícula in July and part of August. In our 1996-2025 reanalysis series July brings 10-11% of the year’s rain in Antigua, Guatemala City, Lake Atitlán and Xela, against 16-20% in June.

When is Rabin Ajaw 2027?

No 2027 dates had been published in the Ministry of Culture or Diario de Centro América reports on the festival as of 4 November 2026. In 2026 the 58th Festival Folklórico Nacional opened in Cobán on Thursday 23 July and closed with the election of the new Rab’in Ajaw, reported by Diario de Centro América on 27 July; our Rabin Ajaw page tracks the 2027 programme.

Is July a good month for a family trip to Guatemala?

It is the drier middle of the rainy season in the highlands, with Antigua averaging 25°C (76°F) highs and 16°C (61°F) lows in our reanalysis series. July 2025 was the fifth-busiest month for non-resident visitors in INGUAT’s count, so it is busier than June (ninth).

What happens on 25 July in Guatemala?

It is the feast of Santiago Apóstol (Saint James), patron of the towns named after him, among them Antigua Guatemala (Santiago de Guatemala), Santiago Atitlán and Esquipulas, AGN notes. In 2027 it falls on a Sunday. It is not on Article 127’s national holiday list; each town’s feast day is a local paid holiday.

Is there a national holiday in Guatemala in July?

No. None of the dates on Article 127’s national list of paid holidays falls in July. Towns whose feast day is in July, such as Huehuetenango on 16 July, give a local paid holiday that day.