Mexican Festivals Calendar 2026: Don't Miss These

A Country That Celebrates Continuously

Mexico does not have a festival season — it has a festival calendar that runs 365 days with minimal gaps. The country combines 68 living indigenous cultures (each with their own ceremonial calendar), a deep Catholic tradition (with the colonial-era blending of religious and indigenous celebration), a political history of national commemorations, and a contemporary arts scene that generates its own events. Choosing which festivals to build a trip around is less about finding events and more about deciding which celebration speaks to you most.

January-February

Carnaval de Veracruz (late February): The largest Carnival celebration in Mexico, running 9 days before Lent. Veracruz's African-Caribbean cultural roots give it a different character than the more indigenous-flavored celebrations elsewhere — big, loud, danzón music on the malecón, elaborate costume competitions, and seafood at every turn. One of the five largest Carnival celebrations in the Americas.

Carnaval de Mazatlán (late February): Mexico's second-largest Carnival, with a parade that fills the malecón with floats, costumes, and crowds. Less Caribbean in character than Veracruz but with strong Pacific coast energy. Both Veracruz and Mazatlán hold Carnival the week before Ash Wednesday.

Feria de Tlacotalpan (late January/early February): A small-town festival in Veracruz state honoring the Virgin of Candelaria — Catholic processions, bullfights, and the release of a bull into the Papaloapan River (which it swims across). Rooted in Spanish colonial tradition and fiercely local.

March-May

Semana Santa (Holy Week, date varies): The most important Catholic observance in Mexico, celebrated intensely in small towns and cities across the country. Taxco (Guerrero) holds the most elaborate processions in the country — flagellants, float-carrying pilgrims, all-night vigils. San Cristóbal de las Casas mixes Catholic and Tzeltal Maya traditions in ways that have no European equivalent. Avoid travel during Holy Week if possible — roads and hotels are at maximum capacity.

Festival Internacional Cervantino, Guanajuato (October — listed here as early booking required): Mexico's most prestigious performing arts festival, held for three weeks in October in the colonial city of Guanajuato. Theater, dance, classical music, and contemporary performance from companies worldwide in a stunning natural amphitheater (the city center functions as the main venue). Hotels book out months in advance.

June-July

Corpus Christi (late May/June): Celebrated with particular intensity in Papantla, Veracruz, where the Voladores de Papantla ceremony — five men who twirl from the top of a 30-meter pole, each making 13 revolutions on the way down — is a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage. The ceremony is a pre-Hispanic ritual calendar calculation: 5 × 13 × 4 passes = 260, the length of the sacred calendar.

Guelaguetza, Oaxaca (last two Mondays of July): Oaxaca's signature festival, gathering indigenous dance and musical traditions from the state's eight regions into two days of performance at an outdoor amphitheater above the city. The word guelaguetza comes from the Zapotec word for "offering" or "cooperative exchange." Tickets for the Monday shows sell out months in advance (book through the Oaxacan government tourism site); the smaller neighborhood celebrations the preceding weeks are free and sometimes more intimate.

August-September

Festival Internacional de Mariachi, Guadalajara (early September): Three days of mariachi competition and performance in the Plaza de los Mariachis and the Teatro Degollado. Groups travel from across Mexico and internationally. The competition for best ensemble, best vocalist, and best harpist draws the finest mariachi talent in the country.

Fiestas Patrias (September 15-16): Mexican Independence Day falls on September 16 (commemorating the 1810 Grito de Independencia by Miguel Hidalgo). On the night of September 15, the president reenacts the Grito from the balcony of the National Palace; every Mexican town's mayor does the same from the local government building. The next day brings military parades in Mexico City and celebration across the country. Being in any Mexican city on the night of September 15 is an immersive national celebration.

October-November

Festival de las Almas, multiple cities (October-November): Día de los Muertos programming has expanded in many cities to multi-week festivals in the days surrounding November 1-2. Oaxaca's Festival de Muertos extends across the month; Pátzcuaro's ceremonial vigils on November 1-2 (covered in our dedicated article) remain the most powerful experience.

Festival Internacional de Cine, Morelia (October): Mexico's most important film festival, held in the perfectly preserved colonial city of Morelia (Michoacán). Features premieres of Mexican and international productions, screenings in the main cathedral plaza, and an increasingly serious selection of Latin American cinema.

December

Las Posadas (December 16-24): Nine nights of processions recreating Mary and Joseph's search for lodging in Bethlehem, celebrated throughout Mexico in neighborhood churches and homes. The tradition involves candles, song, and the breaking of piñatas (originally seven-pointed stars representing deadly sins). Staying in any small Mexican city or town during Las Posadas gives access to genuine community celebration.

Nochebuena (December 24): Christmas Eve is the primary family celebration in Mexico — church at midnight, then a large family meal. In San Cristóbal de las Casas, the Maya celebration of the holiday includes fireworks at the cathedral that last for hours.