Best Times to Visit
Weather
Travel during the dry season from November to February, following the dusty harmattan winds, which arrive from the east between December and February. The months afterwards are dry and cool. Rainy season from June-October. Avoid travelling in late March to May as the climate is too hot and dry to bear even for the locals. (For more information, check out Climate in Burkina Faso).
Visitors are recommended to bring lightweight clothes and rainwear for the rainy season, along with scarves and handkerchiefs during the months when the harmattan blows.
Festivals
In odd-numbered years. Ouagadougou hosts the Pan-African Film Festival showcasing up-and-coming West African film makers. It usually begins on the last Saturday in February.
In April, in even-numbered years, the city of Bobo-Dioulasso, hosts La Semaine Nationale de la Culture, a week-long event featuring traditional and contemporary forms of music, dance and theatre.
On Friday mornings, a traditional drama is performed at the Moro-Naba Palace in the capital, called Nabayius Gou - 'The Emperor Goes to War'.
Public Holidays
The following table shows the public holidays celebrated in Burkina Faso:
| Date | Holiday |
|---|---|
| 1 January | New Year's Day |
| 3 January | Anniversary of the 1966 Coup d'État |
| March/April (variable) | Easter Monday |
| 8 March | Women's Day |
| May/June (variable) | Ascension |
| 1 May | Labour Day |
| 4 August | Revolution Day |
| 5 August | Independence Day |
| 15 August | Assumption |
| 15 October | Anniversary of the 1987 Coup d'État |
| 1 November | All Saints' Day |
| 11 December | Proclamation of the Republic |
| 25 December | Christmas |
| Variable* | Aid El Kébir (Feast of the Sacrifice) |
| Variable* | Aid El Segheir (End of Ramadan) |
| Variable* | El am Hejir (New Year) |
| Variable* | Mouloud (Birth of the Prophet) |
* Although Muslim holidays always fall on the same day of the Islamic calendar, the date they are celebrated on the Gregorian calendar varies from year to year, due to the fact that the Islamic calendar is lunar whilst the Gregorian calendar is solar. Because this lunar year is about 11 days shorter than the solar year, Islamic holy days usually shift 11 days earlier each successive solar year. The method used to determine when each Islamic month begins also varies from country to country.
