Antigua hosts Festival de las Flores from 14 to 15 November
Published on 10/31/2026 at 12:18 | Editorial responsibility: Rafael Müller, Editor-in-Chief AD HOC NEWSFestival programme and heritage setting
- Banco Industrial lists the central festival in Antigua from 14 to 15 November 2026.
- The programme includes floral competitions, exhibitions, workshops, a flower market and outdoor performances across the city.
- UNESCO inscribed Antigua on the World Heritage List in 1979 after its colonial grid and monuments survived the 1773 earthquakes.
- Commemorative gardens will open in Antigua from 7 to 15 November 2026.
Antigua hosts the Festival de las Flores (Antigua Guatemala) from 14 to 15 November 2026, bringing floral competitions, exhibitions and outdoor cultural activities to the historic city in Guatemala. The tenth edition uses the theme Ciudad floreciente and forms the central weekend of a wider programme running through November.
Festival de las Flores brings two days of events to Antigua
The festival organisation has scheduled its main programme for Saturday 14 and Sunday 15 November 2026. The event will use different spaces across the city rather than a single venue, with floral installations, decorated facades, competitions, workshops, music, dance, poetry and theatre among the announced activities.
The programme also includes a Mercadito de las Flores, combining floral enterprise, botanical art and handmade products. The Banco Industrial event page identifies La Antigua Guatemala in Sacatepequez as one of the official locations and describes the 2026 edition as a cultural programme linking floral art, heritage, gastronomy, fashion, sport and community participation. Its festival programme and dates also place the central weekend on 14 and 15 November.
Further activities are scheduled before the main weekend. Commemorative gardens are planned from 7 to 15 November, while the Las Flores Trail Run is listed for 8 November. An opening parade called Inicia la Primavera is scheduled for 13 November, connecting the wider programme with the city streets and public spaces.
Antigua heritage gives the flower festival its setting
The festival takes place within a city whose historic plan and monuments are part of a protected cultural landscape. UNESCO says the settlement was founded in the early sixteenth century, built on a grid influenced by the Italian Renaissance and largely damaged by the earthquakes of 1773. Important religious, civic and domestic buildings remain as monuments or ruins.
UNESCO inscribed Antigua on the World Heritage List in 1979. The city stands at roughly 1,500 metres above sea level in a seismically active region, and its surviving churches, convents, civic buildings and streets form the physical setting for the November programme. That connection makes the flower festival more than a separate event: its installations and competitions are planned for the same urban fabric that UNESCO protects. The UNESCO heritage record documents the city’s history, layout and 1979 inscription.
The 2026 edition is the festival’s tenth. Prensa Libre reports that the central weekend will feature floral interventions, a flower market, open-air performances and competitions including facades, bicycles, neighbourhoods and monumental works. Its reported festival agenda also describes the commemorative gardens opening at different private spaces from 7 November.
Visiting Antigua: what travellers from Western Europe should know
- The main Festival de las Flores programme takes place on 14 and 15 November 2026 across Antigua, Guatemala.
- Visitors will find floral installations, competitions, exhibitions, workshops and outdoor cultural performances, while commemorative gardens are scheduled from 7 to 15 November 2026.
- Antigua lies in the Guatemalan highlands and its historic centre includes a Renaissance-influenced street grid, colonial monuments and earthquake-damaged ruins.
- The city is accessible from Guatemala City by bus, taxi or car, according to background information on its regional connections.
- Entry requirements depend on your nationality; UK travellers can check the FCDO travel advice at gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice, Irish travellers the Department of Foreign Affairs at ireland.ie.
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Frequently asked questions about Antigua
When does the Festival de las Flores take place at Antigua?
The main programme takes place on 14 and 15 November 2026, with commemorative gardens scheduled from 7 to 15 November 2026.
What is the Festival de las Flores programme in Antigua?
It includes floral installations, competitions, exhibitions, workshops, a flower market and outdoor music, dance, poetry and theatre.
Where is Antigua and how do you get there?
Antigua is a historic city in Guatemala’s Sacatepequez department. It can be reached from Guatemala City by bus, taxi or car.
