Guanajuato Takes Center Stage at Xcaret’s 20th Festival of Life and Death

Cancún, Quintana Roo — Guanajuato will be the guest state at the 20th edition of Xcaret’s Festival of Life and Death, which organizers say will draw an estimated 52,000 visitors to the park on the Riviera Maya from Oct. 30 through Nov. 2.

At a press conference in Mexico City, Lupita Robles León, Guanajuato’s secretary of tourism and identity, and Lizeth Galván Cortés, the state’s secretary of culture, announced that Guanajuato’s program will feature 127 artists, 78 performances, three workshops and five altars and installations representing the state’s cultural expressions from different regions and generations.

“More than a celebration, the Festival of Life and Death is an invitation to reconnect with our roots, to recognize the cultural diversity that defines us as a country, and to share traditions, performing arts and community identity with respect and admiration,” said Leticia Aguerrebere, corporate director of art and culture at Grupo Xcaret.

Galván Cortés said Guanajuato’s participation offers a chance to share how its communities preserve and recreate their heritage, from art and handicrafts to gastronomy and the ways they honor those who have passed.

Aguerrebere noted that over the festival’s 20 years, it has drawn more than 800,000 visitors and more than 15,000 artists and tradition bearers from 12 Mexican states, presenting more than 6,400 cultural expressions.

“For two decades we have built a space where memory, art, gastronomy, music, cultural expressions and community knowledge come together to honor one of our country’s most emblematic traditions: the Day of the Dead, recognized by UNESCO as an intangible cultural heritage of humanity,” she said.

Separately, Grupo Xcaret will add 600 rooms to its Hotel Xcaret México resort, according to Akis Neocleous, the company’s director of hotels. The expansion follows the addition of 900 rooms last year and would bring the resort’s total to about 1,800 rooms.