[naswanji]

Of all the places I've been, Mexico is the country that seems to have the fullest and most diverse calendar of cultural events, festivals and ferias. From the major cities down to the smallest pueblo, it seems that there's always some celebration going on somewhere in some part of the country. What's more, these events can transform an otherwise nondescript second-tier or third-tier city into a rollicking Saturnalia where the normal rules and hangups don't apply.

I've made the following list of Mexico's cultural calendar for my own personal use, and I thought I'd share it with the forum. I've made some notes on the events I've been to, and I'd love to get some data from other members about the other ones listed, and maybe ones I didn't mention.

January
Guanajuato State Fair - Jan-Feb
Chiapa de Corzo - Fiesta de Enero - Jan 9-21

February
Carnaval - Like other Catholic countries, Mexico celebrates a version of Carnaval in the week leading up to Ash Wednesday (so the date fluctuates from year to year). While not on the same level as Brazil, the Carnaval in Veracruz is the most famous one. I've also heard good things about the Carnavals in Merida, Mazatlan and Cozumel.

March
Catamaco - Witches' Conference - First Friday in March: Not really a game opportunity per se, but a big gathering of traditional healers, santeria priests, and who knows what else in a village in the state of Veracruz. I imagine it must be pretty wild
Merida - Festival de Trova Yucateca
Acapulco - Festival Frances - usually early March: A festival celebrating all things French over a long weekend in Acapulco. Haven't been, but I imagine it draws a lot of fresas from the DF
Cuernavaca - Feria de la Primavera - late March-early April
Chichen Itza - Spring Equinox - apparently some New Age celebration at the pyramid
Mexico City - Festival de México en el Centro Histórico - mid to late March

Semana Santa (either March or April)
Semana Santa - the week leading up to Easter -- is the biggest vacation week in Mexico. Especially on Holy Thursday and Good Friday, more traditional areas of Mexico will hold processions and passion plays (via crucis in Spanish) and other events.
In Mexico City, the most famous passion play is in Iztapalapa -- which is normally considered a dangerous ghetto area that you shouldn't visit, but at least on this day it's safe due to the immense crowds. The passion play starts around noon and lasts until 4 pm, and is live performance of Jesus' crucifixion put on by residents of the neighborhood. Besides that, the whole neighborhood becomes a giant street fair and attracts many people (including young senoritas) for other than pious motives.
Zacatecas - One of the best traditional celebrations takes place in Zacatecas on the Friday before Easter, where a "Procesion de Silencio" is held. Zacatecas is one of Mexico's most beautiful cities with some of its most beautiful women, but it is quite small. Easter weeekend though it's packed with both locals and out-of-towners partying hard
Jerez - This is small village about an hour from Zacatecas, but it has what is possibly the most intense celebration on "Sabado de Gloria" (the Saturday before Easter) in all of Mexico. Basically all the young cowboys ride into town on horseback to get drunk and listen to banda music until the early morning hours. The central four blocks of the town are so packed that you'll only be able to move around with difficulty. I've never seen as many sexy cowgirls in my life as I did here. You will feel out of place though if you're not wearing at least a cowboy hat. The best move would be to stay there overnight, but you'll need to book a hotel at least a month in advance.

Since Semana Santa is the big vacation week in Mexico, I imagine that the beach towns are also packed with Mexican girls in party mode, but I haven't checked them out and not sure where the best places would be.

The one place you don't want to be during this week is in the DF. It basically turns into a ghost town.

San Cristobal de las Casas - Feria de la Primavera y la Paz - week following Easter Sunday

April
Aniversario de la Repoblacion de Tampico - April 12
Aguascalientes - Feria -- Aguascalientes has the biggest feria in Mexico running between late April and early May. A 10 block area of the town converts into a giant carnival with abundant food and drink, street concerts, bullfights, cockfights, you name it. Mexicans from all over come to the feria, but if you're a gringo, you'll most likely be the only one there.

Several other threads have already been written about this feria in more detail:
thread-23568...scalientes
thread-47109...scalientes

May
La Paz - Fundacion de la ciudad - early May
Acapulco - Festivales de Acapulco
Feria de Morelia - three weeks in mid-May
Chalma - Pilgrimage to the Senor de Chalma. This is the second-largest pilgrimage in Mexico after the Virgin of Guadaloupe. It takes place on Pentecost Sunday in a village called Chalma, about two hours west of Mexico City. Not really a great game opportunity, but interesting culturally.

June
Nothing?

July
Saltillo - Aniversario de Saltillo - second week of July
Oaxaca - Harvest festival known as Guelaguetza - first two Mondays after July 16
San Miguel de Allende - Chamber Music Festival - July 30 to August 15

August
Veracruz Festival Internactional Afrocaribeno - early August
Saltillo - Dia de San Cristo de la Capilla - week leading up to Aug 6
Monterrey - Festival Internacional de Cine - August
Huamantla - August 14/15 - Assumption of Mary
San Luis Potosi - Feria Nacional Potosina - last 3 weeks of August and Dia de San Luis Rey de Francia - Aug 25
Ensenada - Fiestas de la Vendimia - mid-to-late August
Zacatecas - Morisma de Bracho - last weekend in August: Apparently a reenactment of Reconquista battles between Spaniards and Moors held on the outskirts of town
Guadalajara - Fiesta Internacional del Mariachi y Charreria - late August-early September

September
Zacatecas - Feria de Zacatecas - early September
Tepoztlan - Reto al Tepozteco - September 7/8 - All-night party celebrating some Aztec god
Dia de la Independencia - September 15/16 - Celebrated throughout the country. In Mexico City, the area around the Zocalo is packed especially for the "Grito."
Autumnal Equinox - Chichen Itza
Merida - Cristo de las Ampollas - Sept 22-Oct 14

October
Guanajuato - Festival Internacional Cervantino: This is one of Mexico's most famous cultural events, taking place in Guanajuato over three weeks in October. Mostly seems to be theater and performing arts, but I've also heard about Guajuanato's famous "callejoneadas," traditional street parties where you load a barrel of wine onto a burro and roam through the town drinking and singing. In any case, I plan to check it out.
Morelia - Festival Internacional de Morelia
Zapopan (Guadalajara) October 12th pilgrimage to Our Lady of Zapopan
Tonala - Festival de la Tortuga Marina - last weekend of October
San Cristobal de las Casas - Festival Cervantino Borroco - late October - early November

November
Dia de Muertos - Patzcuaro/Janitzio - Mixquic - Oaxaca
The Dia de los Muertos is one of Mexico's other largest celebrations, and there are events all over the country. One of the most popular is in the village of Patzcuaro and nearby island Janitzio in Michoacan. Janitzio is an island in the center of a lake that fills up with partiers on the night of the Day of the Dead (November 1-2). Meanwhile, in its cemetery you can still find a traditional observance where people spend the entire night at the graves of their relatives. Patzcuaro as well has an all-night celebration in one of its squares, where you'll find a different banda concert in each corner of the square and people dancing and drinking until late at night.
Puerto Escondido - Fiestas de Noviembre
Leon - Festival del Globo - Nov-Dec
Culiacan - Feria Ganadera - mid-November
Sinaloa Festival de los Artes - November-December
Puerto Vallarta - Dia de Santa Cecilia - November 22 / Gourmet Festival - around November 12 to 22

December
Queretaro - Feria Internacional - first two week of Dec
Mexico City - Our Lady of Guadaloupe - December 12 and days prior. Mexico's biggest pilgrimage, people come from all over Mexico (sometimes on foot) in processions in honor of the Virgin, with many camping out in and around the Basilica. It's in a neighborhood of Mexico City that you otherwise would never want to visit, but other than that, doesn't really offer any special opportunities for game.
Acapulco Fair - mid-Dec - early Jan

There are a number of medium-sized cities where my research didn't really turn up any events of interest. If anyone has any data on those cities, I would certainly welcome it:
Chihuahua
Hermosillo
Mexicali
Cancun
Torreon
Reynosa
Durango
Toluca
Tuxtla
Matamoros
Xalapa
Nuevo Laredo
Villahermosa
Tepic
Pachuca
Campeche
Chilpancingo


The TL;DR version is if you're going to Mexico, the main celebrations you need to go to are:
Carnaval - Veracruz
Sabado de Gloria - Jerez
Feria of Aguascalientes
Festival Cervantino in Guanajuato
Dia de Muertos in Patzcuaro / Janitzio

I'm interested in seeing what experiences the rest of you have had.

[NovaVirtu]

dur you forgot Cinco de Mayo!!11!

In all seriousness, good info to have for planning a trip to Mehico. +1.

[Cattle Rustler]

Also, note that Mexicans like to "bridge their vacations" and will take days nearby off to extend it. For example if Cinco de Mayo is on a Thursday/Tuesday, they will make Friday/Monday a holiday as well. When xmas or New Years hits....it's a long ass "puente".

Most importantly, don't go to Mexico durinhg Christmas, New Years, Semana Santa, Summer (parts of mx), and Independence Day. Most Mexicans will leave the city to go to the beach (Acapulco, Cancun, Veracruz, Cabo, etc) and the city will be deserted. Go to the beaches, all thots will be there.

Trust me on this one, I've forgetten so many holidays that I land in the city and it's fucking empty.....there's nothing to do and most business are closed or on reduced hours. Margaritas everywhere on Cinco De Mayo in Puebla? Nah, nearly every biz is closed and the city shuts down....even clubs.

[ElFlaco]

Unless a visitor really thrives on chaos, I would use a calendar like this to know when to avoid going to these places. Guanajuato, Guanajuato is pleasant except during Cervantino, when everything is crowded, expensive and filled with drunks urinating in the streets. All logistical concerns double in complexity. You can't see the character of any of these places when they're overrun with tourists, domestic or foreign.

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In Mexico City, the most famous passion play is in Iztapalapa -- which is normally considered a dangerous ghetto area that you shouldn't visit, but at least on this day it's safe due to the immense crowds.

I currently live in that part of Mexico City. You're right that it's considered dangerous, especially by guidebooks and by Mexicans who have never been here but who enjoy scaring others. In general, it's a patchwork of ordinary, working-class neighborhoods that in many ways resemble small villages or towns. It's nowhere near the most dangerous part of Mexico.

[Stirfry]

(08-26-2016 01:53 PM)NovaVirtu Wrote:  

dur you forgot Cinco de Mayo!!11!

In all seriousness, good info to have for planning a trip to Mehico. +1.

They actually do celebrate Cinco de Mayo in Mexico, but only in Puebla, where the battles against the French took place. I think everyone gets the day off work and school.

[natas305]

(08-26-2016 01:37 PM)naswanji Wrote:  

September
Tepoztlan - Reto al Tepozteco - September 7/8 - All-night party celebrating some Aztec god
Dia de la Independencia - September 15/16 - Celebrated throughout the country. In Mexico City, the area around the Zocalo is packed especially for the "Grito."

Oh man, this is awesome, I'll be in Mexico City during these two events and didn't realize any of this when I planned it out. Dia de la Independencia seems like it will be a big deal in Mexico City, but what about Reto al Tepozteco? Will there be celebrations in DF for this too?

[naswanji]

(08-26-2016 03:57 PM)natas305 Wrote:  

(08-26-2016 01:37 PM)naswanji Wrote:  

September
Tepoztlan - Reto al Tepozteco - September 7/8 - All-night party celebrating some Aztec god
Dia de la Independencia - September 15/16 - Celebrated throughout the country. In Mexico City, the area around the Zocalo is packed especially for the "Grito."

Oh man, this is awesome, I'll be in Mexico City during these two events and didn't realize any of this when I planned it out. Dia de la Independencia seems like it will be a big deal in Mexico City, but what about Reto al Tepozteco? Will there be celebrations in DF for this too?

The Reto al Tepozteco is just in Tepoztlan, but Tepoztlan is close enough to Mexico City that you could make an overnight trip out of it. I'd love to check it out, but unfortunately this year it falls during the workweek. You should go and write it up for the forum, since most of the information I've found online and in guidebooks is pretty spotty. The main events (at least for tourist visitors) seems to be the all-night pulque fest on top of the Tepozteco pyramid between the night of the 7th and 8th, but there are other events going on as well in the city. The holiday was originally an Aztec festival in honor of the god Tepoztecatl, but Catholic elements have been overlaid on top since then, so expect to see a curious mix of pre-Hispanic and Catholic culture.

[naswanji]

(08-26-2016 02:34 PM)ElFlaco Wrote:  

Unless a visitor really thrives on chaos, I would use a calendar like this to know when to avoid going to these places. Guanajuato, Guanajuato is pleasant except during Cervantino, when everything is crowded, expensive and filled with drunks urinating in the streets. All logistical concerns double in complexity. You can't see the character of any of these places when they're overrun with tourists, domestic or foreign.

Yes, but in my experience visiting many cities in north and central Mexico, the "character" of these places is more often than not a sleepy, conservative colonial town with the same architecture and museums to see. That being said, some places do stand out, and I would gladly visit them again at any time of year. For example, I got a really good vibe from Queretaro, probably because its university draws in students from across central Mexico, so it tends to be a bit more lively.

Meanwhile, there are some cities that have little to offer outside of their ferias. Aguascalientes comes to mind.

Also, you almost see no foreign tourists at the events I listed. The majority of visitors tend to be Mexicans, and at least for the purposes of game, the tourist girls tend to be more open than the locals.

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I currently live in that part of Mexico City. You're right that it's considered dangerous, especially by guidebooks and by Mexicans who have never been here but who enjoy scaring others. In general, it's a patchwork of ordinary, working-class neighborhoods that in many ways resemble small villages or towns. It's nowhere near the most dangerous part of Mexico.

I agree. I think the danger of even supposedly dangerous barrios is often overstated. If you live in one and are passing through every day or are on the street very late at night, you will eventually get mugged as a statistical probability, but your chance of that on any one visit is not high. Still, an obvious looking gringo with little or no Spanish will probably attract unwanted attention, so unless you're in the company of a local I wouldn't recommend it.

Then do you have any desire to bust out an Iztapalapa data sheet? Is it worth visiting for anything, or just a cheap place to live? I'm always trying to break out of the bubble that expats fall into where they just divide all their time between Condesa and Polanco.

[Cattle Rustler]

Regarding "Iztapalacra" (Iztapaleech):

I have some cousins that live there and went to visit not too long ago. It really depends what point of the borough you're in and your presentation. There is a lot of crime in sections of it and being white will not do you any favors, you will be seen an easy target and the cops will wonder why you were there in the first place because there are no attractions. Dress down, more so than if you were in Mexico City and carry a cheap spare phone.....people tend to jack peseros (public buses) here or go for smash and grabs along Avenida Zaragoza. Zaragoza is the avenue that takes you to highway Mexico-Puebla that goes to...Puebla. It's always packed so cars will be sitting there like sardines and a dude might come up and rob you.....or simply car jack you, I saw this to a car two cars in front of me a couple of years ago. It's supposed to be a lot safe now since the federal police has a special ops compound there.



Either way, there's nothing touristy there that I know of. Just a lot of easy lower middle class lizards. If you want to go, head to a tianguis or a mercado since that's where most people tend to congregate....and pickpockets do as well. I would say go during a Friday night when many people go to dance cumbias and shit. Check out the ads painted on walls for concerts and events that are being hosted. That's where I would go.

The area around Escuadron 201 is okay, and Constitucion de 1917 station is huge with a shit ton of bus routes right outside. Just be careful around the "infonavits" as the hood niggas hand around there.

Overall, it's not Somalia or Juarez but it's certainly not Condesa or Roma.

I think Tepito is more chill overall because there are tons of more people there and cops are also there. I can give y'all homies some info on Tepis, I spent a summer in the center of it (Av Ferrocarril de Cintura near Peluqueros) and have fam there as well.

Go there during the Facuya/Tianguis days, there are plenty of thots to daygame and shit to buy. You'll see a bunch of love motel hidden camera porn for sale on the sidewalk next to a stall that sells school supplies or baby clothes. Some of the Italian suits are real, they're stolen from Palacio de Hierro trucks....shit, the PS3 and Xbox360 were for sell there for 2000 USD before they were even on sale in the US. If you buy something make sure it's tested or you see it placed in the bag and scurry out of there. I like the agua fresca from the little stands down there. Since a lot of cops patrol the area now it's safe. If you want to get aventure-y try finding out where they sell exotic animals or bathroom accessories (acessorios de bano).

Sometimes the Policia Federal will come around and do a raid, stay and watch. It's interesting seeing them be discreet with 17 trucks, only to be met with heavy resistance. Oh, and be careful of who you ask for directions. I was naive my first time there and asked this dude who keep looking at me weird, it took me 15 secs to realized he was high on "cemento". The heaviest shit there I saw was a piratero nigga in an armored car getting capped, I guess he didn't buy the higher level armor.

La Merced is huge to wander around but they have some great discount on fireworks, occasionally a firework warehouse will burn down around xmas in that part of town. Head to Mercado Sonora is you're into witchcraft, "brujeria", and other "dark arts stuff"

[ElFlaco]

(08-27-2016 10:31 AM)naswanji Wrote:  

Yes, but in my experience visiting many cities in north and central Mexico, the "character" of these places is more often than not a sleepy, conservative colonial town with the same architecture and museums to see.

You're right about that. I would add that any place not on the PUEBLOS MÁGICOS list is probably of lower interest architecturally. Even some of those don't impress, once you've seen a few.

What I was trying to get it is that there's something to be said for avoiding crowds and targeting a place in the off season, especially if you're making an extended trip. Street food is another part of Mexican culture and someone new to Mexico could make an interesting trip around that, just looking for the best tacos al pastor. That can be done almost anywhere. In the case of the city of Guanajuato, during the offseason you can walk the streets or hit the downtown park and strike up conversations, meet students. On the following day, you might run into them again in a different part of town. There's potential to work your way into a social group. This takes time and I can't see that happening as easily during the 'desmadre' of a big festival.

Quote:

That being said, some places do stand out, and I would gladly visit them again at any time of year.

I like Huamantla, which you mentioned, in the state of Tlaxcala, early-mid August. The street surfaces themselves get decorated with colorful sawdust and everyone is out at night admiring the designs.

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Meanwhile, there are some cities that have little to offer outside of their ferias. Aguascalientes comes to mind.

Speaking of the Aguascalientes Fair, germanico has a thread about it: thread-23568...#pid437762

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Also, you almost see no foreign tourists at the events I listed. The majority of visitors tend to be Mexicans, and at least for the purposes of game, the tourist girls tend to be more open than the locals.

That's a good point, probably true of anywhere off the beach - pyramids - Lonely Planet route. I've been to the State of Guanajuato Fair (in the city of León) and not a single other foreigner in sight.

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Still, an obvious looking gringo with little or no Spanish will probably attract unwanted attention, so unless you're in the company of a local I wouldn't recommend it.

You've reminded me that I've seen some remarkably foolish behavior by foreigners in Mexico City, doing everything possible to look like they're easy marks. One chick was holding up a big sign on Reforma Av looking for a ride out of town. Probably ended up in a ditch in Toluca. Another group asked me for help hailing a cab to Condesa late at night and they barely knew where they were trying to get to. Uber is a better option nowadays. General recommendations: Have survival Spanish, dress appropriately (no shorts, backpacks) and travel alone. These go a long way towards making you look like you belong there.

Quote:

Then do you have any desire to bust out an Iztapalapa data sheet? Is it worth visiting for anything, or just a cheap place to live? I'm always trying to break out of the bubble that expats fall into where they just divide all their time between Condesa and Polanco.

Thanks for the encouragement. I've just posted some thoughts about 'undiscovered' parts of Mexico City in the Mexico City Data Sheet thread: thread-17207...pid1381470