Santa Ana: History and Petén Cuisine

Santa Ana brings together settlement history, a church feast day, regional cuisine, and a visit package featuring nature and community projects. When planning your hotel stay, it helps to first decide which of these occasions you want to shape your trip around.

History and Getting Oriented

The municipality’s settlement history has two milestones: the first settlement was established in the Ixponé savanna, now known as Santa Ana Vieja. A second settlement was founded in 1890 in the Barrio Buena Vista.

The municipality of Santa Ana is 21 kilometers southeast of the departmental capital and 461 kilometers from Guatemala City. These two figures provide a sense of location at different levels: in relation to the departmental capital and to the national capital.

Feast Day and Petén Cuisine

Santa Ana’s municipal festivities take place in July, with the main day on July 26. On this day, the Catholic Church honors Santa Ana, the mother of the Blessed Virgin Mary and patron saint of the town. The festival month and main day offer different reference points for travel planning. If you want to plan your trip around the celebration, check the specific dates in advance.

One culinary highlight was the Festival Gastronómico del Bollo Petenero, held as part of the 2026 Fiestas Patrias. At the Plaza Cívica Municipal, visitors could sample traditional bollos peteneros, preserves, and a variety of typical dishes from Petén and the municipality of Santa Ana. For the second year in a row, the festival brought together women from the municipality of Santa Ana in Petén who preserve the traditional preparation of bollitos. The event thus combined tastings with the passing on of a culinary tradition. If you plan to travel for a future edition, check its dates.

Visit Package from Cooperativa Nuevo Horizonte

The Cooperativa Nuevo Horizonte visit package includes walks and experiences in the Bosque de la Vida, at Laguna de O’quevix, and at the reforestation project, as well as discussions about politics and life during the guerrilla period with former FAR guerrilla fighters, along with the history of the community and cooperative. It also includes visits and experiences involving community economic activities, including a fish-farming project, cattle raising, and a tree nursery. The discussions about politics complement the walks and project visits with the history of the community.

Plan Your Stay Around the Occasion

The settlement history offers a historical point of reference; the feast day is in July, while the festival was associated with its 2026 edition. If you are planning for a future celebration or festival edition, check the relevant dates. If you want to include the visit package in your trip, coordinate your visit with the cooperative before planning your overnight stay.

Discover more destinations: Jobompiche, Melchor de Mencos, Flores, El Chal, San Andrés, Tikal, El Remate, Laguna Yaxjá

For the overview of the wider region: Petén.