Good Time to Visit
Weather
Togo is dry and hot from February to March. Long rains follow in April until July, with the short rains taking place in October and November. From December to January, the Harmattan wind blows from the north. (More details can be found in Climate in Togo).
Visitors are advised to bring tropical lightweights, along with waterproofs during the rainy season.
Festivals
Muslim and Christian festivals are celebrated. There are also many traditional festivals, such as Evala, an initiation ceremony involving wrestling, which is sometimes shown on national television. Kpessosso is a harvest festival in Aneho with traditional dances such as Gbekon and Adjogbo. The Agbogbozan is another important festival, on the first Thursday of September, and especially colourful in Notse. Dispontre is a yarn festival in the first week of September.
Public Holidays
The following table shows the public holidays celebrated in Togo:
| Date | Holiday |
|---|---|
| 1 January | New Year's Day |
| 13 January | Liberation Day |
| March/April (variable) | Easter Monday |
| 27 April | Independence Day |
| May/June (variable) | Ascension |
| May/June (10 days after Ascension) | Whit Monday |
| 1 May | Labour Day |
| 21 June | Day of the Martyrs |
| 15 August | Assumption Day |
| 1 November | All Saints' Day |
| 25 December | Christmas Day |
| Variable* | Korité (End of Ramadan) |
| Variable* | Tabaski (Feast of the Sacrifice) |
* 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.