Guatemala Guide
Around Guatemala City
Santiago Sacatepéquez
Santiago Sacatepéquez lies west of Guatemala City, along the Carretera Interamericana, a kilometre north of the highway. The best time to visit Santiago Sacatepéquez is on November 1, for a local fiesta to honour the Day of the Dead, when massive paper kites are flown in the cemetery to release the souls of the dead from their agony. The festival is immensely popular, and hundreds of Guatemalans and tourists come every year to watch the spectacle. The colourful kites, made from paper and bamboo, are massive circular structures, measuring up to 6–7m in diameter. Teams of young men struggle to get them aloft while the crowd looks on with bated breath, rushing for cover if a kite comes crashing to the ground. At other times of the year, there are markets in Santiago on Tuesday and Sunday and the town has a small museum (Mon– Fri 9am–4pm, Sat & Sun 9am– noon & 2–4pm), just below the plaza, which is crammed with tiny Maya artefacts found locally, and some traditional costumes.