Yucatán’s Otoño Cultural 2026 Opens With Tribute to Jazz Pianist Mario Esquivel

Mérida, Yucatán — Yucatán’s Otoño Cultural 2026 opened at the Palacio de la Música with a tribute to Yucatecan pianist and composer Mario Esquivel, staged as a warm, joke-filled recreation of the Monday-night musical gatherings once held in his home.

The opening program, titled “Cada lunes en casa de Mario” (Every Monday at Mario’s House), brought together artists and invited friends who performed on the Mérida venue’s stage before a full house.

Yucatán Governor Joaquín Díaz Mena welcomed the audience and formally inaugurated the festival, accompanied by Sedeculta director Patricia Martín Briceño and Tourism Secretary Darío Flota Ocampo. The governor urged Yucatecan families to take part in the more than 50 free activities on the schedule.

Culture Secretary Pledges Events Across the State

Martín Briceño said the festival’s staying power comes from its ability to reinvent itself and from a commitment to decentralizing culture. She said programming will reach Peto, Valladolid, Tizimín, Tekax and Progreso, among other municipalities, arguing that access to culture is a right and should not depend on where a person lives.

The opening night featured performances by Morita, Luis Mario Baeza, Carlos Ordóñez, Jorge Gamboa, Edgar Cruz, Maricarmen Pérez, Gabriel Espinosa and Enrique Dávila, along with the Club de los Ciricotes, the group that keeps the Monday musical gathering alive. The lineup performed songs including “Bésame Mucho,” “Si Me Entendieras,” “Mi Ciudad” and “Como Yo Te Amé.”

Organizers screened a video tracing the honoree’s career, and members of Los Ciricotes presented him with a recognition for his contributions to jazz in Yucatán and to music more broadly.

The festival runs from Oct. 14 to Oct. 30 and spans theater, dance, music, film, literature and the visual arts, with local, national and international creators taking part. The full program is available on Sedeculta’s social media accounts.