Guelaguetza

Mondays on the hill

The Guelaguetza, also called Los Lunes del Cerro, “Mondays on the Hill”, takes place in the city of Oaxaca and nearby villages. Indigenous communities from across the state gather to present their cultures through dance, music, costume and food. Each costume, or traje, and each dance carries a local history and meaning. The main performances take place in an open-air amphitheatre built into the Cerro del Fortín, above the city centre, where the dances of Oaxaca’s eight regions are presented in morning and afternoon shows.

The word guelaguetza comes from the Zapotec language and is usually understood as the reciprocal exchange of gifts and services — a reminder of how much sharing and community matter in indigenous life.

Maize, the Virgin and a city rebuilt

Oaxaca has a large indigenous population, from Zapotec and Mixtec people to many other groups, each with its own language and traditions. The festival grew out of earth-based celebrations connected with maize and the maize god, and over the centuries absorbed Christian elements, becoming linked with the feast of the Virgin of Carmen.

After an earthquake destroyed much of the city in the 1920s, leaders reorganised the festival as a statewide cultural event to lift people’s spirits, and it took on its modern form as a showcase of the dances of each region. Since the 1970s it has had its own amphitheatre on the hill, rebuilt in 2010.

A whole month

The Lunes del Cerro are the heart of a month of events. In 2026 the programme included the Bani stui gulal, a staging of the festival’s history from pre-Hispanic times to today, guided walks, a Mezcal Fair, a handicrafts fair, a tournament of the traditional Mixtec ball game and a Festival of Moles. Tourism has grown fast, and some in Oaxaca have questioned how far the festival should be shaped for paying visitors — a debate worth keeping in mind as a guest.