La Paz Festivals: Free Things to See in 2026
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La Paz Festivals Worth Timing a Budget Trip For
The single best budget travel hack in La Paz is timing your trip around a festival, because the city’s biggest events are free to watch from the street and cost nothing beyond a normal day’s food and a cheap seat somewhere along the route. Here’s what’s worth planning around in 2026, and what to skip.
Alasitas (from 24 January)
A UNESCO-listed miniatures fair built around Ekeko, the Aymara god of abundance and home. Vendors sell tiny versions of everything you want in the coming year, houses, cars, diplomas, passports, for a few bolivianos each, and the custom is to have them blessed for good luck. It’s free to walk, genuinely fun, and one of the cheapest cultural experiences in the city.
El Gran Poder (late May or early June)
La Paz’s biggest folkloric parade and a UNESCO-recognized cultural event, with thousands of dancers in morenada, caporales, and diablada costumes moving through the city for hours. It’s free to watch from the sidelines, though a coveted spot along the main route sometimes gets a small paid seat if you want to sit rather than stand all day. Note that the 2026 date shifted due to the year’s unrest, so check the current-year schedule before you build a trip around it specifically.
Fiesta de las Ñatitas (8 November)
Aymara families bring decorated human skulls, ñatitas, believed to offer protection, to be blessed at the Cementerio General. This is a devotional, deeply held practice, not a curiosity, so approach it the way you would any solemn religious observance: quietly, respectfully, and without treating it as a photo opportunity unless you’re clearly welcomed to take one.
Willkakuti / Aymara New Year (21 June)
The winter solstice new year is marked most dramatically at Tiwanaku, about two hours from La Paz, where crowds gather before dawn to greet the first rays of the new solar year. A bus out there costs only a few bolivianos each way, making this one of the cheapest overnight-adjacent experiences on this list if you’re willing to get up early.
Carnaval de Oruro (February or March)
La Paz has its own Carnaval, but the real draw is a separate city: Oruro’s Carnaval is a UNESCO Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity, and worth a short bus trip from La Paz if your dates line up. Expect crowded, cheap buses and a genuinely spectacular free parade once you’re there.
Planning around festival crowds on a budget
Festival dates fill hostel beds fast, so book your room a few weeks ahead if you’re timing a trip around Gran Poder or Alasitas specifically. None of the events above require a paid ticket to enjoy properly; the only cost most budget travelers add is a slightly pricier hostel bed during the festival week itself. Pair a festival trip with our things-to-do guide or one of our itineraries to fill out the rest of your days.
One practical note that applies to every date above: La Paz sits around 3,640m and El Alto’s airport lands you even higher, so however excited you are to get to a parade route, give yourself a rest day first rather than sprinting straight from the airport into a crowd.