Register today! | Already registered? Sign in

traveldk.com

from Eyewitness Travel Guides: the world's bestselling travel guides
  • Personal guide
  • Open
Member image

Cancún and the Yucatán : Festivals

Submit an attraction

Make sure your favorite shops, restaurants, hotels and more are listed.

Submit an attraction illustration
WIN WIN WIN

Win a Philips portable DVD player & iPod doc!

Win a portable DVD player and iPod Doc
Download a podcast

Free podcasts Find free podcasts for London, New York, Berlin & more.

Join our free monthly newsletter

Advertisement

Top 10 Festivals

No one has rated this yet.
  • Review this attraction
  • Rate it
  • Are these details incorrect?
  • 1. Carnival

    The biggest and brightest celebration of the year in the cities of the Yucatán. In Cancún and Cozumel the streets fill with music, dancing, food stands, and a little Río-style parading. The biggest Carnival in southern Mexico, though, is in Mérida.

  • 2. Feast of Three Kings, Tizimín

    The capital of Yucatán’s cattle country hosts one of the region’s biggest fiestas. It features a stock fair as well as bullfights, traditional music, dancing, colorful parades, and plenty of eating and drinking.

  • 3. La Candelaria

    Valladolid’s main fiesta, the Expo-Feria, centers around the Feast of the Virgin of La Candelaria. Local girls show off dazzling embroidered dresses in the opening parade, followed by free concerts and shows, and dancing. Campeche has a smaller celebration.

  • 4. Equinoxes, Chichén Itzá and Dzibilchaltún

    The visual effects integral to these Mayan cities – such as the “descent” of the sun down the serpents on El Castillo at Chichén and the striking of the rising sun through the Seven Dolls temple at Dzibilchaltún – were timed to happen on the spring and fall equinoxes. Today, over 80,000 people visit Chichén for the day; crowds are smaller at Dzibilchaltún & (see Chichén Itzá.

  • 5. Mérida en Domingo

    Mérida hosts a free fiesta every week, “Mérida on Sunday,” when the Plaza Mayor and Calle 60 are closed to traffic to make way for strolling crowds and a range of events. There are displays of jarana dancing in front of the City Hall and concerts up and down the street, and anyone can dance, too.

  • 6. Village Fiestas

    Every village and town in the Yucatán also has its own fiesta, when the streets are covered in bright garlands, work ceases, and music is heard non-stop. To find out when any are due, ask in tourist offices, look out for posters, or check local papers.

  • 7. Cancún Jazz Festival

    An innovative mix of young performers from Latin America, the U.S., and Europe – often playing Latin Jazz and contemporary fusion rather than strict jazz – features in this festival. Several acts play for free in Parque de las Palapas in Ciudad Cancún.

  • 8. San Miguel Arcángel, Cozumel

    Cozumel’s most important traditional fiesta is in honor of the island’s patron saint, St. Michael. For nine days preceding his day, there are religious processions, kids’ entertainment, and free music and dancing.

  • 9. Cristo de las Ampollas, Mérida

    More solemnly religious than most fiestas, with processions culminating on October 13, when the figure of “Christ of the Blisters” (Cristo de las Ampollas ), kept in Mérida Cathedral, is carried through the city before a ceremonial Mass.

  • 10. Day of the Dead and All Saints’ Day

    Sugar skulls, dead bread (pan de muerto ), zempazuchitl fowers, and coffin-shaped decorations are the mark of Mexico’s most famous celebration, when people party to celebrate the dead on Halloween and All Saints’ Day (Todos Santos ), and families visit cemeteries to picnic by the graves of their own departed relatives.

Write a review

If you were signed in, you could write a review here. Register for a free account, or if you're already a member, sign in.

Advertisement

 Latest guides
What’s on now in Cancún and the Yucatán
  • Riviera Maya Underground Film Festival
    Experimental, animation, fiction and documentary make up the categories of national and international shorts at the yearly Riviera Maya Underground Film Festival. Screenings take place in Playa del... Read more
  • Cancún Revolution Day
    On 20 November the whole of Mexico reaches fever pitch with Revolution Day celebrations, Aniversario de la Revolución Mexicana. Cancún is no exception with the traditional grand parade... Read more
  • Cozumel Revolution Day Celebrations
    The island of Cozumel's Revolution Day celebrations on 20 November include lively patriotic parades along the seafront to the City Hall as well as traditional acrobatic displays performed by... Read more
  • Riviera Maya Jazz Festival
    The annual Riviera Maya Jazz Festival attracts an enthusiastic crowd to Mamitas Beach in Playa del Carmen to enjoy free performances by national and international acts. Read more