All Saints’ Day in Guatemala
Guatemala marks All Saints’ Day on November 1, a paid public holiday for private-sector workers under the Labour Code. In Santiago Sacatepéquez and Sumpango, the day is especially associated with giant kites made and displayed as a way to connect with ancestors.[1][4]
Date and legal status
Article 127 of Guatemala’s Labour Code lists November 1 as a paid day of rest for private-sector workers. It also lists other national holidays and a local-festival day.[1]
Guatemala has legislation that can move certain holidays to encourage domestic tourism. The 2018 amendment names May 1, June 30, October 20, local-festival days, and applicable collective-agreement rest days. November 1 is not among the dates covered by that rule.[2][3]
A local tradition of giant kites
The kite tradition in Santiago Sacatepéquez and Sumpango is rooted in the communities’ cultural and spiritual life. UNESCO describes it as dating from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries and says the kites are displayed or flown during the fairs for the Day of the Saints and the Dead to communicate with ancestors. The practice was inscribed on UNESCO’s Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2024.[4]
Guatemala’s Ministry of Culture and Sports describes the communities as predominantly Maya-Kaqchikel and explains that, in their worldview, people who have died become ancestors with whom the living can communicate and whom they celebrate. The giant kites serve as a spiritual link between the living and the dead.[5]
Making and displaying the kites
The kites take months to prepare. Groups propose and choose designs, prepare and decorate the visible surface, and assemble it with a backing, frame, fringes, and tail. Their designs can address current social, political, cultural, or environmental subjects. Depending on their size, kites are either flown or displayed publicly during the November 1 celebrations.[4][5]
This is a community practice passed between generations. UNESCO notes that people of different ages and abilities participate, and that local craft committees help organize the fairs. The kites therefore combine skilled making, public display, and collective observance rather than serving only as decorations.[4]
Food and remembrance
Fiambre is associated with November 1 in Guatemala. The Guatemalan tourism institute describes it as a traditional dish combining vegetables of pre-Hispanic origin with cold meats of European Spanish origin. That supports a broad description of its ingredients, but not the claim that every recipe contains a fixed number or set of ingredients.[6]
The kite fairs in Santiago Sacatepéquez and Sumpango are held in the context of remembering the dead and communicating with ancestors. Together with the food tradition, they show how the observance can bring cultural remembrance into shared community activities.[4][5][6]
Frequently asked questions
When is All Saints’ Day in Guatemala?
It is observed on November 1. Guatemala’s Labour Code names that date as a paid day of rest for private-sector workers.[1]
Is it an official public holiday?
Yes. Article 127 of the Labour Code lists November 1 as a paid day of rest for private-sector workers.[1]
Is the holiday moved when November 1 falls on a weekend?
Where are the giant-kite traditions held?
The documented fairs take place in Santiago Sacatepéquez and Sumpango, where the kites are displayed or flown in connection with the Day of the Saints and the Dead.[4]
What is fiambre?
It is a traditional Guatemalan dish associated with November 1, described by the national tourism institute as combining pre-Hispanic-origin vegetables with cold meats of European Spanish origin.[6]
Sources and references
Sources used for All Saints' Day in Guatemala:
- Código de Trabajo- Organismo Judicial de Guatemala, Centro Nacional de Análisis y Documentación Judicial
- Congreso de la República de Guatemala: Decreto 19-2018- Congreso de la República de Guatemala
- Decreto 19-2018, Reforma al Decreto Número 42-2010 del Congreso de la República, Ley que Promueve el Turismo Interno- Congreso de la República de Guatemala
- Technique of making the giant kites of Santiago Sacatepéquez and Sumpango, Guatemala- UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage
- Técnica de elaboración de los barriletes gigantes de Santiago y Sumpango, Sacatepéquez- Ministerio de Cultura y Deportes de Guatemala
- Guatemala corazón del mundo maya: folleto 18- Instituto Guatemalteco de Turismo (INGUAT)