2024 Easter Week (Semana Santa) in Mazatlán

Easter week ('Semana Santa' in spanish) is the busiest holiday time in Mazatlán and all of Mexico!  It is also called 'Holy week'.

Easter is a catholic celebration and is a holiday in Mexico which is a mainly catholic country.  Most Mexicans will get a few days up to a complete week off of work to celebrate.

It is common for tens of millions of Mexicans that live inland to head to beach resorts, including Mazatlán.  The population of Mazatlán almost doubles during this time.  People will visit their relatives and fill every hotel room in the entire city!

The entire week prior to Easter Sunday is busy in Mazatlán.  The peak period is from the Thursday prior to Easter Sunday through Easter Sunday.  If you don't like crowds and traffic we recommend that you don't visit Mazatlán during Easter week.  For miles the beach is so full that if you look down on it you would not even see the sand!

Unfortunately because it is so busy during Easter Week, prices are generally higher and you will likely experience lineups to enter restaurants and bars.

Easter Sunday is March 31, 2024 so the week prior to this date is when everyone in Mexico celebrates Easter (semana santa).  It will be especially busy in Mazatlán on the Thursday (March 28), Fri (March 29), Sat (March 30) and Easter Sunday(March 31)!

On the Thursday and Friday of Easter Week, most of the banks in Mazatlán are closed so plan ahead with your banking.

In addition, there are usually other events that take place during Easter Week:

No 2024 Events have been announced yet.  Here are some of the 2023 events that took place:

In 2023, there is a large electronic music festival called 'Sunset Paradise' that took place on Playa Cerritos beach from April 5, 2023 to April 8, 2023.  No word if it is back on in 2024.

The Tihany Circus was in town from April 4-9, 2023.  They have illusionists, music hall, russian hammock, trapeze, rebound juggling, contortion, diablo, statue of Jerome Murat, and quick change performances!  The circus is located in the lot next to the Mazatlán Aquarium just off of the Malecon.

Here is a list of the individual 2024 Mazatlán Easter Week events that we are aware of: 2024 Mazatlán Easter Week events listings...

Getting around Mazatlán during Easter Week is a challenge.

APRIL 4, 2023 UPDATE: The city has announced that for Easter Week (April 5-10) Avenida Gaviotas will switch to running from North to South instead of it's normal South to North.  This is the street where Joe's Oyster Bar and the Holiday Inn hotel among others are located.

In 2023, the city has announced that they are building a temporary 4 lane lighted dirt road called 'La Bahia Marina' from Avenida Sabalo Cerritos to Avenida Delfin to bypass the Marina bridges.  Also, the tourist buses bringing many of the tourists will park at the Multiple Use Centre(CUM) so they don't block the roads in the tourist areas.

Most years Avenida Camaron Sabalo is turned into a one-way street heading north and it is still a traffic jam.  We haven't heard that this is happening this year(2023) or not.

In 2022, the city has announce that there were free buses running from Olas Altas to Sabalo Country in a loop.  We haven't heard about this happening either.

Pulmonias and regular taxis will charge more because it will take them longer to get anywhere.

Don't expect to get anywhere fast during Easter Week!

The dates for Easter Week (semana santa) in Mazatlán, Mexico are from March 25 to March 31, 2024.

The busiest days are typically the Thursday(March 29) through Sunday(March 31).