Five Mexican Caribbean Festivals to Check Out This Year

The Mexican Caribbean has a full lineup of festivals and cultural events on tap for the year ahead. 

New this year is Cancun Music Week (CMW), which will premiere this summer during the destination’s 50th anniversary celebrations, bringing an array of electronic music artists to the Mexican Caribbean during a week-long event. Held August 3 to 9 at the Breathless Resort & Spa in Puerto Morelos, CMW is the first Latin American flagship of the International Electronic Music Conference. The festivities will kick off with a poolside Grand Opening party, followed by a schedule of day-to-night pool parties with international DJs, industry panels, master classes, workshops, keynote speakers, networking sessions and more. Each day will begin with wellness sessions and coffee connections gathering music industry professionals, aspiring artists and newcomers from Europe and the Americas. The full lineup will be announced soon. 

A major festival on the Mexican Caribbean calendar for nearly two decades, the Riviera Maya Jazz Festival has brought the likes of Norah Jones, Bebel Gilberto, UB40, Lalah Hathaway and other legendary jazz artists to the shores of Playa del Carmen for a free jazz festival each November. The festival returns this fall with another lineup to be announced later this year.

Art With Me, Tulum’s community-driven festival of the arts, music, wellness and culture, will hold its 2020 edition from April 22 to 26. This year’s headliners include top indie acts Rhye, Nahko, Kerala Dust, Pillowtalk, Romare and more, along with more than 300 events across Tulum ranging from late-night concerts and sunset sessions to art installations and sustainability workshops. 

Spring breakers will be able to head to Oasis Dance U at the Grand Oasis Cancun each week of March. This year will bring oceanfront sets from Spanish house duo Los Santos, Australian DJ twins Nervo, Canadian dance-pop act Loud Luxury and chart-topping rapper Lil Jon.

The eighth edition of the Cancun International Music Festival celebrates the 250th anniversary of Beethoven’s birth, hosting classical, electronic and jazz concerts from October 22 to 31, in addition to workshops, master classes and other events for instrumental music fans.

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