FIESTAS Y EVENTOS EN DICIEMBRE
Christmas Ornaments Fair
Date: September 27 – December 15
Location: Tlalpujahua, Michoacán
This Magical Town dresses up to celebrate and showcase some of the most beautiful blown glass Christmas spheres, as well as other holiday decorations. Over 300 artisans participate in the fair, displaying their exquisite Christmas ornaments.
All artisans gather at the Municipal Auditorium to showcase their products, but you can also find these beautiful ornaments in various shops throughout the town.
In addition to Christmas ornaments, there are other regional handicrafts available for purchase, including brass objects, rustic furniture, cantera stone pieces, and a wide variety of ceramics. Visitors can also enjoy a rich gastronomic display.
Expo Feria CANACO Mazatlán
Date: November 13 to December 7
Location: Mazatlán, Sinaloa
Organized by the National Chamber of Commerce, Services, and Tourism of Mazatlán (CANACO), this fair is a meeting point for local, national, and international businesses. Its main objective is to promote local and regional commerce.
It includes concerts, live shows, mechanical rides, recreational areas, and artistic and cultural exhibitions, as well as conferences and workshops.
The event also provides an opportunity for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the region to expand their network and access new markets.
Chiapas Fair
Date: November 28 to December 14
Location: Tuxtla Gutiérrez, Chiapas
This annual event celebrates Chiapas’ culture and traditions, including its Indigenous heritage, gastronomy, and unique handicrafts.
The fair features various themed pavilions showcasing the state’s diversity, such as the Handicrafts Pavilion, Gastronomic Pavilion, and the Livestock and Agricultural Pavilion. It also offers an attractive musical program.
Guadalajara International Book Fair
Date: November 29 – December 7
Location: Guadalajara, Jalisco
This fair is the most important editorial gathering in Ibero-America and an extraordinary cultural festival.
It is a fair for professionals where the public is welcome, distinguishing it from other major fairs held worldwide. In addition to being a business meeting, the FIL is also a cultural festival, with a program featuring authors from all continents and different languages. Furthermore, it serves as a space for academic discussion on significant current issues.
The event includes music, art, film, and theater from the guest country.
The FIL takes place at Expo Guadalajara.
National Tequila Fair
Date: November 29 to December 14
Location: Tequila, Jalisco
The most important event in this world-famous Pueblo Mágico, renowned for its tequila tradition and spectacular agave landscapes.
During the fair, attendees can enjoy a wide range of activities, including distillery tours and tastings of different tequila varieties.
It features live music performances, with genres such as mariachi, banda, and other traditional regional styles. Visitors can also enjoy folk dances, charrería competitions, parades, handicraft exhibitions, art workshops, and food stands serving typical dishes like birria, tamales, and the traditional tortas ahogadas.
The fair also includes the coronation of the Fair Queen, sports events, and equestrian exhibitions.
National Silver Fair
Date: November 29 to December 6
Location: Taxco, Guerrero
This annual fair celebrates and honors the silversmithing art that has made Taxco world-renowned. Held for decades, its main purpose is to promote and preserve Mexico’s artisanal silverworking tradition.
The fair includes a wide array of activities: silverwork exhibitions, the National Silversmithing Competition, handicraft displays, a gastronomic showcase, and cultural and artistic events featuring folkloric groups and local bands. Parades are also part of the festivities.
Tecalitlán Fair
Date: November 29 to December 13
Location: Tecalitlán, Jalisco
This major celebration combines tradition, culture, and entertainment in the land of mariachi.
The artistic lineup brings together well-known performers of regional Mexican music, local groups, and emerging talents. There are also popular dances, rodeos (jaripeos), charreadas, and traditional parades.
Gastronomic and artisanal exhibitions allow visitors to discover and enjoy local products.
Feria Patronal de Pátzcuaro
Date: November 30 to December 8
Location: Pátzcuaro, Michoacán
This patron saint fair honors Our Lady of Health, the town’s patron saint. The image, sculpted in the 16th century from corn cane paste, is believed to have performed many miracles, especially those related to health.
The fair features religious activities, including processions that wind through Pátzcuaro’s cobblestone streets decorated with flowers, papel picado, and lights.
Another highlight is the artisan market set up in and around Plaza Vasco de Quiroga. There are also gastronomic exhibitions, cultural events, and recreational activities, such as traditional Purépecha dances like the Dance of the Old Men (Danza de los Viejitos), folkloric music groups, and regional concerts. Visitors can also enjoy mechanical rides, theater shows, and street performances.
Ciudad del Maíz Regional Fair
Date: December 1 to 8
Location: Ciudad del Maíz, San Luis Potosí
The 2025 Ciudad del Maíz Regional Fair, popularly known as FEREMA, combines traditions, culture, and entertainment for all ages.
The fair offers mechanical rides, gastronomic areas, artisan displays, and an attractive musical lineup.
Pastorelas
Date: December
Location: Nationwide
Pastorelas are another deeply rooted December tradition in Mexico.
According to history, the first pastorela took place in 1527 in Cuernavaca with the performance of "La Comedia de los Reyes." Over the years, the story began to depict the pilgrimage of Joseph and the Virgin Mary, incorporating the adventures of shepherds and the challenges they must face to arrive in Bethlehem and worship the Baby Jesus. Pastorelas clearly depict the struggle between good and evil.
International Piñata Fair
Date: December 4 to 7
Location: Acolman, State of Mexico
This event showcases the best of folk art, local culture, gastronomy, and the traditions of Acolman, known as “the birthplace of the traditional piñata.” The fair is held to preserve and promote this artisanal craft, highlighting the talent of local producers.
Visitors can admire monumental piñatas, participate in artisanal competitions, and enjoy a family-friendly atmosphere full of color, music, and culture.
The fair includes handicraft exhibitions, displays, workshops, contests, and musical performances, along with an artistic lineup featuring regional groups, mariachi bands, bandas, and popular artists.
Corn and Bean Fair – Guadalupe Victoria
Date: December 5 to 12
Location: Guadalupe Victoria, Durango
This festival pays tribute to two of the region’s most important and representative crops: corn and beans. These grains have long been a source of sustenance and a cornerstone of the local economy.
The fair offers a variety of activities: agricultural and commercial exhibitions, gastronomic showcases, cultural events, concerts, shows at the People’s Theater, an inaugural parade, contests, mechanical rides, a children’s fair, rodeos, jaripeos, and many other activities.
Day of the Virgin of Guadalupe
Date: December 12
Location: Nationwide
According to popular traditions, on Tuesday, December 12, 1531, the Virgin of Guadalupe appeared for the fourth time to the indigenous man Juan Diego on the Tepeyac hill. The native of Cuautitlán set out early to seek help for his sick uncle, and next to the Pocito, the Patroness of Mexico appeared to him and told him that his uncle was already healthy. The Virgin asked him to climb to the summit of Tepeyac Hill to cut some roses, which did not bloom at that time or in that place. These flowers were to be taken to Bishop Zumárraga as proof of the miraculous encounters and that she wanted a temple to be built nearby.
The Santa Run
Date: December 14 at 7:00 a.m.
Location: Parque La Mexicana, Santa Fe, Mexico City
An event that combines fitness, fun, and the Christmas spirit. It’s a playful race in which all participants—men, women, and even pets—must dress in the traditional red Santa Claus suit.
There are several distance options: 1K, 5K, and 10K.
The event includes concerts, family activities, and a raffle.
Whale Watching
Date: December 15 to April 30
Location: Pacific Ocean and Sea of Cortez beaches
During this time, gray whales migrate from the Bering, Chukchi, and Beaufort Seas in Alaska to the coastal lagoons of Ojo de Liebre, Laguna Guerrero Negro, Laguna San Ignacio, and Bahía Magdalena in Baja California Sur, where this impressive mammal (over 14 meters long) gives birth and breeds. This journey covers a route of approximately 12,000 kilometers. They travel for three months with extraordinary punctuality in their arrival.
The refuges located within the Vizcaíno Biosphere Reserve have allowed for the care and preservation of the species, as its warm waters are ideal for reproduction.
Due to its value as the best site in the world for gray whale reproduction and nurturing, the Vizcaíno Whale Sanctuary is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Gray whales can also be observed in Baja California Sur in the Loreto Bay National Park, the Vizcaíno Biosphere Reserve, the Cabo San Lucas Flora and Fauna Protection Area, San José del Cabo, and Cabo Pulmo National Park.
A similar spectacle occurs in Banderas Bay and a little further north in Rincón de Guayabitos, where the humpback whale from Alaska arrives. These whales are known for their impressive jumps and large pectoral fins. They also come to mate and reproduce. The best places to observe them are San Blas, La Cruz de Huanacaxtle, and Sayulita.
They can also be seen in Tenacatita Bay in Jalisco, the Mazatlán-Teacapan area in Sinaloa, and the Puerto Ángel-Mazunte area in Oaxaca.
Posadas
Date: December 16 to 24
Location: Nationwide
These are the December celebrations that take place during the nine days leading up to Christmas and have an ancient tradition.
In pre-Hispanic times, the advent of Huitzilopochtli (God of War) was celebrated from December 17 to 26, so when the Spaniards arrived, they adopted this custom and modified it to incorporate new beliefs into the festivities.
The Night of the Radishes
Date: December 23
Location: Oaxaca, Oaxaca
This festival is celebrated every December 23 in the Zócalo of the City of Oaxaca. Its origins date back to the colonial era, although the first exhibition as such was in 1897. It begins at five in the afternoon, but one can arrive a little earlier to see how artisans create their incredible works. It lasts only a few hours, but it brings together most of the city's residents and visitors.
Christmas Eve
Date: December 24
Location: Nationwide
One of the most established traditions among Mexican families is the Nativity scene. There are many types, from the most conventional with very elaborate figures to the more modern and stylized, but all have that artisanal and picturesque touch.
Calendas
Date: December 24
Location: Oaxaca
These celebrations were introduced by the Franciscans and take place in various towns in the state of Oaxaca.
On the night of December 24, all the Catholic churches in Oaxaca related to their Patron Saint or the allegory of Christmas usually have children as protagonists. Additionally, they are accompanied by neighborhood residents with lanterns, angels, shepherds, and a band. All these floats gather in the Zócalo, where they make three laps before returning to their church.
New Year's Eve
Date: December 31
Location: Nationwide
This is a celebration that gathers family and friends for dinner. Typically, sparkling wine is served, and just at midnight, the 12 grapes are consumed, which, according to tradition, should be eaten one with each bell toll, representing the 12 wishes for the coming year.
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