The best time to film in Rwanda: seasons, light and calendar

Rwanda sits just south of the equator, on high ground, so it never has a true summer or winter. What changes through the year is rain. For anyone asking when is the best time to film in Rwanda, the answer starts with the rainfall pattern, then the national calendar.

The national meteorological agency, Meteo Rwanda, says two rainy seasons can generally be distinguished, one centred around March to May and the other around October to December, and that temperatures vary little through the year.¹ Visit Rwanda describes a tropical highland climate in which peak temperatures rarely exceed 30°C in the daytime or drop below 15°C at night, and gives an average daily temperature in Kigali of 21°C.²

Location matters as much as month. Meteo Rwanda notes that the warmest areas are the low-lying east and the Bugarama Valley, while the highlands are cooler, below 17°C on average.¹ A shoot that moves from Akagera to the Virunga volcanoes crosses very different conditions in a single week.

The Rwanda dry season is the most forgiving period for a crew. Visit Rwanda describes it as running from June to mid-September, with light cloud cover and only occasional light rainfall, and notes that roads and paths tend to be easier to navigate.² For long travel days, field visits to remote districts and outdoor interviews, this is usually the safest window.

Dry does not mean rain-free everywhere. Meteo Rwanda's seasonal forecast for June to August 2025 expected 105 to 150 millimetres of rain over most of Rubavu and Musanze districts, compared with 15 to 60 millimetres in the Eastern Province and the City of Kigali.³ If your story takes you to the north-west, near the volcanoes or Lake Kivu, pack rain covers in any month.

In our own practice, these months are often busy with conferences and visiting delegations, so we book crews, vehicles and accommodation early.

Different sources draw the rainy seasons slightly differently. Visit Rwanda gives mid-February to May and mid-September to mid-December.² Meteo Rwanda identifies March, April and May as the season of maximum rainfall.¹ For planning, treat March to May as the heaviest period and September to December as the second wet season.

The main risk is logistics, not the rain itself. The UK government's travel advice warns that heavy storms can cause disruption and damage, including landslides and floods, and that roads from Kigali to major towns can be damaged by landslides during the rainy season.⁴ Build spare days into the schedule, avoid tight connections between distant locations and keep a covered or indoor alternative for key scenes.

Rain also has advantages. In our experience, the hills are at their greenest, skies are more dramatic and the air is clearer after a storm. Many showers pass within an hour or two, so a flexible crew can often keep working.

Near the equator, day length hardly changes. On a December day, timeanddate.com shows sunrise in Kigali at 5.46 am and sunset at 6.01 pm, a day of just over twelve hours that is only about 14 minutes longer than the shortest day, at the June solstice.⁵ You can plan the same working day in any month.

The sun climbs quickly and sits high overhead by late morning, which gives hard light and deep shadows on faces. In our own practice, we schedule landscapes and exteriors for the first two hours after sunrise and the last two before sunset, and keep interviews indoors or in open shade around midday. Dusk is brief, so be in position for sunset shots well before six o'clock.

Plan for the dark too. With sunset around six all year, evening travel on rural roads starts early, so finish field work in time to reach your base in daylight.

Public holidays affect access to offices, schools, health centres and officials you may need to interview. The presidential order that sets official public holidays lists the following dates.⁶ If a holiday falls on a weekend, the next working day becomes a public holiday, with the exception of 7 April.⁶

Two holidays move every year. The dates of Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha are announced annually by the Rwanda Muslims association.⁶ Easter also moves, so check the calendar for your year before confirming dates with contributors.

• 1 and 2 January: New Year
• 1 February: National Heroes' Day
• Good Friday and Easter Monday
• 7 April: Genocide against the Tutsi Memorial Day
• 1 May: Labour Day
• 1 July: Independence Day
• 4 July: Liberation Day
• Friday of the first week of August: Umuganura, the harvest day
• 15 August: Assumption
• 25 and 26 December: Christmas and the day after
• Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha: dates announced each year

The most important date in Rwanda's calendar for any production is 7 April. The UK government's travel advice notes that the week following Genocide Memorial Day on 7 April is an official week of mourning.⁴ Commemoration events then continue over 100 days: in 2023, for example, they ran until 3 July.⁷

Guidelines issued for the 2023 commemoration prohibited mass celebrations such as weddings, team sports competitions and music unrelated to the commemoration in bars, restaurants and other public places, while professional and business activity continued.⁷ Guidance is published each year, so read the current version before you plan.

In practice, avoid scheduling celebratory content, music-led scenes or upbeat promotional shoots during the commemoration week. If your story involves memorials or survivors, work with local partners, seek informed consent carefully and treat the period with the respect it deserves.

The last Saturday of each month is Umuganda, a national day of community service, and the UK government's travel advice says most normal services close from 7am to 11am.⁴ Do not plan travel, deliveries or interviews for that morning. If you want to film Umuganda itself, arrange it in advance with local authorities and the community.

The same advice notes that Kigali holds a car-free morning on the first and third Sunday of each month, from 7am to 10am, and that other cities may hold car-free mornings at different times.⁴ Streets closed to traffic can disrupt a shoot, or offer a rare chance to film quieter roads and people exercising. Check the dates when you set your schedule.

• Choose dry or rainy season according to how much travel the shoot needs
• Check rainfall for each location, not just for Kigali
• Add spare days for storms and road damage in the rainy seasons
• Schedule exteriors early and late, with sunset close to six o'clock
• Mark public holidays, including Easter and the two Eid dates for your year
• Read the current commemoration guidelines before planning any April shoot
• Keep the last Saturday morning of each month free for Umuganda
• Check car-free Sunday mornings for any street filming in Kigali