Here is the duration of major alt seasons by year (approximately, based on key metrics: drop in BTC Dominance, rise in ETH/BTC, rise in altcoin capitalization — Total2).
2017 alt season
• Period: December 2017 — January 2018
• Duration: ~45 days
• Comment: Mass FOMO, many altcoins showed 10-100x.
2021 alt season (main wave)
• Period: March 2021 — May 2021
• Duration: ~60 days
• Comment: Peak capitalization of Total2, ATH of many DeFi, NFT, and meme coins.
2021 alt season (second wave)
• Period: August 2021 — November 2021
• Duration: ~90 days
• Comment: Rise of Solana, Avalanche, GameFi, metaverses.
Smaller waves / mini-seasons:
• 2020 (DeFi Summer): June — September (~90 days)
• 2019: short spikes in January and June (~10–15 days each)
• 2023–2024: there was no full-fledged alt season, only local pumps (5–10 days).