5 Best Performing Arts Venues in Antigua, Guatemala

Antigua Tours' Elizabeth Bell presents a slide show called "Antigua: Behind the Walls" each Tuesday evening at 6 pm at the Centro Cultural El Sitio. She has assembled her vast collection of images during her almost four decades in Antigua. Admission is Q30, and proceeds go to buy textbooks for area elementary schools. During the six weeks of Lent, Bell also presents a slide show devoted to Antigua's Semana Santa processions at the same place. Advance reservations are required.

The city's most active cultural venue is the Centro Cultural El Sitio, which presents concerts, films, and lectures (almost always in Spanish) several nights a week.

La Cueva, in the Hotel Mezón Panza Verde, gets jazzy, bluesy, or Latin-y, Wednesday through Saturday nights.

The Mesón Panza Verde hotel and restaurant is known for its weekly Art Flicks and Dharma Flicks film series—most films are in English—as well as the occasional concert.

"The NGO Talk," a weekly lecture series in English with a political, humanitarian, or social bent on some topic related to Guatemala, gets underway on the patio at Rainbow each Tuesday evening at 5:30 pm. Come early. Seats fill up quickly, but don't be afraid to grab a chair at a partially occupied table. Admission is Q25, with proceeds going to a charitable cause.