Banderas Bay Regatta and Nautical Festival
Nuevo Vallarta, Nayarit, March 1 to 8
This four-day event in the Bahía de Banderas features sailing and a variety of beach activities.
Web Site: Banderas Bay Regatta.
Zihuatanejo International Guitar Festival
Zihuatanejo, March 2 to 9
This town neighboring the resort area of Ixtapa hosts an annual festival designed to bring locals and tourists together to enjoy guitar music. Concerts are held on the beach as well as in restaurants and bars throughout the town. Proceeds from the event will go to Zihuatanejo’s Casa de la Cultura, a cultural center that offers free art classes to folks from the community.
Web Site: Zihuafest
Night of the Witches - Noche de Brujas
March 7th, Catemaco, Veracruz
Shamans, healers and fortune-tellers are ubiquitous in Catemaco throughout the year, but the first Friday of March marks their annual convention. If you'd like to have your cards or hand read, or experience a "limpia," you'll have plenty of options here.
Catemaco Tourist Information
Sabor International Wine and Food Festival
San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato, March 7 to 9
A weekend dedicated to wine and gastronomy, with cooking classes, workshops and winemaker dinners in which famous visiting chefs work side by side with local chefs to prepare special menus paired with excellent wines.
Web Site: Festival Sabor
Guadalajara International Film Festival
Guadalajara, Jalisco, March 7 to 14
Guadalajara hosts the oldest and most important film festival in Mexico, offering the best selection of Mexican and Latin American films of the year. The festival features a variety of films including feature-length films, shorts, documentaries and children’s films.
Web Site: Guadalajara Film Festival
Guadalajara City Guide
Xochimilco Festival de la Flor mas Bella
Xochimilco, D.F., March 9 to 16
Held annually two weeks before Easter, this four-day event dates back to precolonial times when Mexicans honored the goddess of flowers (Xochipilli) and the goddess of dance (Maculxochitl) to ensure good harvests. Every year, a young woman is crowned La Flor Mas Bella del Ejido (the most beautiful flower of the land) who presides over colorful parades on flower-decorated barges along Xochimilco's canals.
Web Site: Festival de la Flor mas Bella
Holy Week - Semana Santa
Nationwide, March 17 to 30
This year Easter falls on March 23rd. Festivities take place during the week leading up to Easter, but many people have the following week off as well, stretching it out to a two week holiday. Religious processions and plays re-enacting the Passion of Christ are commonly held, but for many Mexicans this is a favorite time to hit the beach. It's high season for travel, so if you plan to be in Mexico during Holy Week, make hotel reservations well in advance.
Read more: Holy Week and Easter in Mexico
See photos of a Good Friday Procession.
Tajin Summit - Cumbre Tajin, Festival de la Identidad
Tajin, Veracruz, March 19 to 23
The culture of the Totonac people of Veracruz takes the spotlight at this annual event taking place during the spring Equinox. The festival includes concerts, workshops and the opportunity to sample the unique cuisine of Veracruz, as well as a spectacular night-time show at the Tajin archaeological site.
Web Site: Cumbre Tajin
Benito Juarez' Birthday - Natalicio de Benito Juarez
Celebrated nationwide, but particularly in Oaxaca, March 21
One of Mexico's most beloved leaders, sometimes referred to as the "Mexican Abraham Lincoln," Benito Juarez went from being a poor Zapotec Indian to become Mexico's first (and only) native president. He made education free and mandatory and brought in the separation between church and state. His birthday is celebrated as a national public holiday.
Biography of Benito Juarez
Spring Equinox
Chichen Itza, March 21
Thousands flock to the main Temple of Kulkulkan at Chichen Itza to witness the play of light and shadow which shows a serpent descending the stairs of the temple.
Chichen Itza Visitors Guide
Chichen Itza Photos
