Cartagena has a real festival calendar, not just the tourism-board version. The big one locals own is Fiestas de la Independencia in November; the big one international readers care about is Hay Festival in January; the oldest one in Latin American cinema is FICCI in March or April. This guide covers every major festival, rough dates, what it costs, and whether it's worth flying in for.
January: Hay Festival and classical music
Hay Festival Cartagena runs late January, typically January 29 through February 1 in 2026. Literary and ideas festival, UK franchise from Hay-on-Wye in Wales. Last edition drew 180-plus participants from 25 countries and roughly 70,000 visitors. Sessions ~USD 15 each with some free events; buy via hayfestival.com/cartagena. Spanish and English with simultaneous translation at the main sessions. Venues: Teatro Adolfo Mejía, Centro de Formación de la Cooperación Española, Claustro de la Merced. Satellite editions the same month in Jericó (Antioquia) January 23 to 25 and Medellín January 27 to 28. Worth flying in for if you care about the subject matter. Book sessions when tickets release (mid-November).
Cartagena Festival de Música runs the first two weeks of January, 2026 dates January 4 through 12 (twentieth anniversary edition). Twenty-seven classical concerts at Teatro Adolfo Mejía, the Sofitel Legend Santa Clara chapel, the Palacio de la Proclamación auditorium, and the Charleston Santa Teresa chapel. Hungarian conductor István Várdai, Franz Liszt Chamber Orchestra as resident ensemble, 2026 headliners include Maxim Vengerov (violin) and Paquito D'Rivera. Tickets via Tuboleta. Overlaps with the post-Reyes tourist peak; book hotels by October.
February: Candelaria pilgrimage
Fiestas de la Virgen de la Candelaria. The city's patroness; procession day is February 2. In 2026, the novena runs January 22 through February 2: daily pilgrimages up Cerro de la Popa, and on the 2nd the Virgin descends in procession to the Ermita Pie de la Popa. A concurrent street-food festival (Festival del Frito Cartagenero) runs the same window at the Parqueadero de los Zapatos Viejos: empanadas, carimañolas, arepas de huevo, music, dance. Local-heavy, not tourist-facing, no hotel-price impact. Worth doing if you're already in town.
March-April: film festival and Semana Santa
FICCI (Cartagena International Film Festival) is the oldest film festival in Latin America (founded 1960). 2026 dates: April 14 through 19 (the festival shifted from traditional March to mid-April in 2026). 180-plus films from 57 countries, Colombian and Latin American focus, key sections include Colombian Feature Films, Ibero-America, (S)paces of Time, Cine Afro, and Cine Indígena. Main venue Teatro Heredia plus Auditorio Getsemaní. Tickets from February via ficcifestival.com. Worth flying in for if you're a cinephile.
Semana Santa (Holy Week). 2026 dates: March 29 through April 5. Intensely Catholic; 10 days of processions from dawn Viernes de Dolores to Easter Sunday. Not a party: most bars reduce hours, some close entirely, Good Friday has a partial liquor-sale restriction (ley seca). Government projection: 110,000-plus air arrivals for the 2026 season, up 20 percent year-over-year. Hotel rates rise 50 percent on average. Designated of "International Tourist Interest" by the Colombian government. Worth flying in for if you want the religious experience; don't come for nightlife.
November: the one locals own
Fiestas de la Independencia (Fiestas de Noviembre). Cartagena declared independence from Spain on November 11, 1811, and the city has celebrated ever since. 2025 core dates were November 13 through 17; 2026 will run similarly. The signature event is El Bando: the mayor reads the proclamation at 11:30 AM on the opening day, and a parade of 8,000-plus artists, 176 dance groups, 22 floats, and 46 festive actors marches Avenida Santander to Parque de La Marina. Last edition drew 78,000 spectators.
The Reinado de Independencia is the local neighborhood pageant: 39 candidates representing Cartagena barrios, judged on neighborhood identity and social leadership, not just appearance. Separate from the national Miss Colombia pageant. Music is champeta, cumbia, vallenato; 2025 lineup featured Zaider and Ekobios.
Crowd impact is severe. Book accommodation three-plus months ahead. Walled City is packed; Bocagrande hotels run 40 to 60 percent above base. Flights from Bogotá triple on the long weekend. Pickpocketing is heavier than usual in the packed plazas. Security in Bazurto and outer Getsemaní thins. This is not a curated tourism show; it's the city's own party. For first-timers, expect flour-and-foam street chaos, aggressive sound systems, and the most Cartagenero atmosphere of the year.
Running concurrent: the Reinado Nacional de Belleza (Miss Colombia), coronation mid-November at the Hotel Las Américas Convention Center. TV spectacle more than street event. Compounds the hotel demand of Fiestas.
December: fireworks and New Year
Super Navidad Cartagena and the Christmas Artisan Market run roughly December 17 through 26 at the Centro de Convenciones and around the walled city.
New Year's Eve. Fireworks launched from Parque de la Marina; crowds along the walls. Best viewing: walls near the Sofitel Legend Santa Clara, Plaza San Pedro Claver, and Parque de la Marina itself. Hotel packages at Townhouse Art Hotel (~USD 150 per person, 9 PM to 2 AM with open bar and tapas), Sofitel Barú "Rise of the Galleon," InterContinental Cartagena, and Baluarte San Francisco Javier. Catamaran and boat parties sell out two to three months ahead. Hotel rates peak (often two and a half to three times base). The "Año Viejo" dummy-burning tradition happens in many neighborhoods. Book by October.
The rest of the calendar
Festival de Música del Caribe ran 1982 through 1996, dormant for 29 years, and revived in 2025 at Plaza de Toros, March 21 to 24, with 30 international artists. 2026 status: appears to be continuing per the festival's Instagram; verify before planning travel around it.
Voces del Jazz y del Caribe: mid-August, 12 editions as of 2025. 100-plus artists from Colombia, Africa, and the Caribbean in the colonial streets. The Colombian jazz festival to attend (don't confuse with the Cartagena, Spain, jazz festival that shows up in search results).
Hay Festival Mompox: doesn't exist. The Hay Festival Colombia satellites are Jericó and Medellín, not Mompox. Mompox hosts its own Jazz Festival in September or October, a smaller intimate event in the colonial riverside town.
FAREX (Feria de Artesanías de Exportación): January 3 through 12 at the Cartagena Convention Center. Crafts-for-export trade fair.
Festival de Tambores y Expresiones Culturales de Palenque: late May in San Basilio de Palenque. UNESCO-recognized Afro-descendant community; drumming, dance, traditional food.
Month-by-month overview
January: Cartagena Festival de Música (4 to 12), FAREX (3 to 12), Hay Festival Jericó, Medellín, and Cartagena (23 January through 1 February), Fiestas Candelaria novena begins (22 January). Peak dry-season weather, peak hotel prices.
February: Hay Festival tail (February 1), Candelaria procession (February 2) plus Festival del Frito. Dry, windy, hot.
March: Festival ConCuerda (March 3 to 13), Festival de Música del Caribe (March 21 to 24). Semana Santa often lands here; check the calendar. Still dry.
April 2026: Semana Santa (March 29 through April 5), FICCI (April 14 through 19). Rainy season starts mid-month.
May-June: Tambores de Palenque (late May, nearby). Quieter, hot, humid, rainy. Hotel rates drop 30-plus percent from February.
July-August: Colombian school holidays drive domestic tourism mid-July. Voces del Jazz y del Caribe August 14 through 17. August is the climate sweet spot.
September: Mompox Jazz Festival. Quietest month in Cartagena.
October: Shoulder-season quiet, decent weather between rains.
November: Fiestas de Independencia (1 to 17), Reinado Nacional (mid-November). Peak local energy, severe hotel pressure.
December: Navidad festivities, New Year's Eve peak. Dry season resumes, second peak pricing window.
If you're picking one festival to time the trip around
The cultural center of gravity is Fiestas de la Independencia in November. Book by August. For intellectual and literary culture, Hay Festival in late January. Book by November. For film, FICCI in April. For a religious experience, Semana Santa. For classical music, Cartagena Festival de Música in January. Every other festival on this page is nice-to-have if you're already in town; these five are worth planning the trip around.
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Subscribe to the newsletterPrices in COP with USD conversions at approximately 4,000:1. Specific venues, hours, and prices change, verify before booking. Last full review: April 2026.