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Cultural Activities

Looking for some local cultural activities?  Take part in Cancun's many cultural activities:  Explore the past at the Anthropology Museum. Experience the thrill of the bullfights at the Plaza del Toros in downtown Cancun.  Enjoy the beauty of the highly acclaimed Folkloric Ballet.  Really immerse yourself in the local culture and enroll in a Spanish course by the day or by the week.  Explore downtown Cancun (el centro), the "real" Cancun where the majority of the locals live.  Play archaeologist and visit the Mayan ruins right in Cancun's hotel zone!  And depending on the time of year you are visiting Cancun, you may be able to take part in the many holidays and special events celebrated here.

 

Bullfights

Bullfights and Mexican Traditions 
Location: Cancun. Transportation not provided.
One of Mexico's oldest traditions, a demonstration of courage and style, combined with authentic folkloric dances and Mexican Rodeo. Come with us and cheer Ole! Don't miss it.
 

Anthropology Museum

The National Institute of Anthropology and History, a small museum on the ground floor of the Convention Center, traces Maya culture with a fascinating collection of 1,000 to 1,500 year-old artifacts collected throughout Quintana Roo. Blvd. Kukulcan Km 9,  About $3, free Sun. Open Tues.-Sun. 9 am-7 pm. 
 

Folkloric Ballet

At the Continental Villas Plaza, you will find the internationally renowned Ballet Folklorico Nacional de Mexico-Aztlan.  This highly acclaimed, professional troupe performs traditional dances to Mexican music. Everything from the costumes, choreography and music have been researched and are truly authentic.  At the Party Center adjacent to the Convention Center, live folkloric bands perform nightly in the central courtyard that provides access to clubs, bars, discos and restaurants.

 

Explore El Centro

Downtown Cancun (el centro)  is filled with wonderful restaurants, great shopping, and cultural adventure. Restaurants, stores selling knick-knacks and souvenirs, hotels in all price ranges, and a craft market frame Tulum Avenue and the surrounding streets. In general, prices are lower than in the hotel zone. Downtown Cancun has other important avenues: Yaxchilan (great for restaurants, nightlife, and hotels), Sunyaxchen (restaurants and hotels), Uxmal (restaurants, hotels and shopping), Nader (small restaurants and sidewalk cafés) and parts of Cobá (restaurants and hotels). 

Click HERE for info on taking the bus from the hotel zone to downtown Cancun.

Parque de Palapas is a wonderful, large park in el centro with music, food, and a giant thatched-roof stage.  The park is popular with locals and there is almost always something going on there.  It is located just off of Av. Tulum by following the small side streets that run perpendicular to Tulum on the other side of the street from the Ki-Huic market.

Plaza Las Americas is a nice, modern downtown mall with big stores such as Liverpool, Sears, Sanborns and JC Penney's, along with numerous smaller boutiques, electronic shops, and a supermarket. This mall also offers 18 screens in two movie theaters, a big food court, several restaurants, and a very good salsa club called Mambo Café.  After you reach downtown, just jump in a cab and tell the driver to take you to Plaza Las Americas - he'll know where to take you. There is also a Wal-Mart and a Sam Club's in downtown Cancun if you want to see the local version of these American stores.

 

Self-Guided Tours of Downtown

The following self-guided tours will help guide you in your explorations of el centro - the "real" Cancun, where you actually feel like you are in Mexico compared to the glitzy hotel zone.   Click HERE to view printer-friendly self-guided tours of downtown Cancun.
 

Mayan Ruins in Cancun

Ruinas Del Rey   Large signs on the Hotel Zone's lagoon side, roughly opposite the Playa de Oro and El Pueblito hotels, point out these small ruins, which have been incorporated into the Hilton  Resort complex. Skeletons interred both at the apex and at the base indicate the site may have been a royal burial ground. Blvd. Kukulcan Km 17, COST: About $3 USD, free Sun. Daily 8-5.

El Meco  Found just north of Cancun, on the avenue leading to Punta Sam, is the archeological zone of El Meco. From the top of one of its pyramids - the tallest archeological structure in the north of the state - there is a breathtaking view of the Chacmochuc Lagoon, near the area known as Isla Blanca (the name is misleading since it is not an island). To get there, we suggest taking a taxi from el centro, since this site, recently opened to the public, still does not receive many visitors.  This two to three-hour visit offers the magnificent opportunity to become acquainted with an ancient coastal Maya city.

 

Special Events & Holidays

If the Mexican ever risks revealing himself completely to a foreigner, showing the full range of his eclectic religiosity, his flint-hard resignation to the numerous defeats of his daily life, and his overpowering sadness even as flowers bloom, it is during the great national fiesta, the Day of the Dead, November 1 and 2.
-Lee Foster, "Mexico: The Devil's Piñata"

January

January 1 New Year's Day
January 6 Day of the Three Kings
January 10 Constitution Day of the State of Quintana Roo
January 11 Anniversary of the reinstatement of Quintana Roo as a territory
February
February 5 Constitution Day. Speeches and ceremonies commemorating this National Holiday.
February 14 Día de los enamorados y amistad.  Day of lovers and friendship.
February 24 Flag Day
Carnaval Cancun. Begins the week before Ash Wednesday. Locals dress in elaborate costume and parade through the streets of downtown Cancun. Carnival atmosphere fill the streets with parades, food, music and dancing.
March
March 21 Benito Juarez's Birthday. National Holiday honoring president and leader of the 19th-Century Reform movement. 
  Día de los enamorados y amistad.  Day of lovers and friendship.
Vernal Equinox. Late March. Visitors come to the main temple at Chichén Itzá to see the descent of the serpent Kukulcan. History has it that the Maya constructed the temple in a way that during equinox a beam of sunlight creates a shadow moving down towards earth resembling a slithering snake. This occurrence is supposed to bring out a good harvest.
Holy Week and Easter. March or April. Celebrations and processions in observance of Christ's resurrection.
April
Holy Week and Easter. March or April. Celebrations and processions in observance of Christ's resurrection.
May
May 1 Labor Day
May 5 Cinco de Mayo. National holiday commemorating Mexico's defeat of the French in the Battle of Puebla in 1862.
September
September 16 Independence Day. Mexico celebrates its independence from Spain in 1821. Featuring fireworks, folk dances, mariachi bands, speeches, and plenty of decorations in Mexico's national colors: red, green and white.
Autumnal Equinox. Late September. Visitors come to the main temple at Chichén Itzá to see the descent of the serpent Kukulcan. History has it that the Maya constructed the temple in a way that during equinox a beam of sunlight creates a shadow moving down towards earth resembling a slithering snake. This occurrence is supposed to bring out a good harvest.
October
October 31 Eve of All Soul’s Day (Halloween). Celebrated all through the Yucatán. Relatives place flowers and candles on the graves of the deceased. 
November
November 2 Day of the Dead. Traditionally it was believed that the spirits of the deceased returned to earth on this day. On this day, deceased relatives and friends are honored in a party-like celebration including graveside picnics.
November 20 Anniversary of the Mexican Revolution. Celebration of the Mexican Revolution of 1910 with parades, speeches and ceremonies.
Caribbean Culture Festival is a one week event in November (dates vary) and is presented by regional cities, including Cancun.  Events include Caribbean music performances, Mexican poetry readings and art exhibits by Latin American and Caribbean artists.
December
Christmas Week Celebrations. December 25 - January 2. The festivities include breaking of piñatas, candlelight processions, nightly posadas which are reenactments of the time Joseph and Mary were searching for lodging and a two day feast commemorating the Virgen de la Soledad.
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