25 Best Performing Arts Venues in Mexico City, Mexico

A sprawling campus of exceptional museums, art spaces, and performance halls in the heart of Ciudad Universitaria, UNAM's cultural center is an excellent place to see concerts by the superb Orquesta Filarmónica de la UNAM (OFUNAM), which take place in the acoustically renowned Sala Nezahualcóyotl. Neighboring venues include the Centro Universitario de Teatro (CUT), Foro Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz, Teatro Juan Ruiz de Alarcón, Sala Carlos Chavez, and Filmoteca UNAM–Sala Miguel Covarrubias. Among these beautifully designed modern buildings, there's virtually always some sort of interesting performance (or several) taking place (except during occasional school breaks), including ballet, modern dance, choral, film, lecture, and theater. Tickets to performances are very reasonably priced. 

Three or four indie and foreign films show daily at this terrific little arthouse cinema in Roma Sur. The space also contains myriad places to hang out before or after your movie, including a roof terrace with occasional live music or stand-up comedy, a bookstore, and a café with good pizzas, burgers, and other casual pub fare.

On a quiet street in the northwestern corner of the neighborhood, this highly regarded performing arts nonprofit presents dozens of plays and other kinds of shows—film, music, dance—throughout the year. Although the name may have you expecting classic Elizabethan fare, Foro Shakespeare is devoted to diversity and social impact, and often presents edgy and provocative material. The organization collaborates with a number of noteworthy partners, including La Compañía de Teatro Penitenciario, which aims to help inmates reintegrate through art and culture. The theater also has an inviting all-day restaurant, La Bambalina, and a great little bookstore, Libreria Paso de Gato.

A popular concert venue, you can also watch a variety of performing arts here, including opera, ballet, and rock concerts by Mexican artists. The great part about this space is that there are really no bad seats. Tickets can be purchased at the box office or on Ticketmaster. If you buy at the box office, tickets are buy one, get one free on Thursday.

The world-renowned Ballet Folklórico de México is a visual feast of Mexican regional folk dances in whirling colors. Lavish and professional, it's one of the country's most popular shows. Though the offices and rehearsal space are in the colonia Guerrero, performances are held at the Palacio de Bellas Artes on Wednesday at 8:30 pm and Sunday at 9:30 am and 8:30 pm or 9 pm, with additional shows scheduled intermittently throughout the year (check the website for more information). Tickets range in price MP370--MP1,560 and can be purchased via Ticketmaster or directly at the Bellas Artes box office. Most hotels and travel agencies can also secure tickets.

A variety of plays, musicals, concerts, and other events are presented in this elegant cultural center's Teatro López Tarso. The building opened in 1887 as a municipal palace and was later used as the government offices of President Álvaro Obregón.

Situated a little east of Coyoacán and adjacent to Estudios Churubusco, CENART is the largest and most important film studio in Latin America. It was built in 1994 by a group of acclaimed Mexican architects led by Ricardo Legorreta, who clearly had Luis Barragán in mind with the design, which relies heavily on bright colors and geometric shapes. Created by the country's National Council for Culture and the Arts, the huge campus consists of performing arts schools and several venues, and there's virtually always something interesting going on, from dance and theater to music of all kinds. Check out the terrific bookshop and hip little café on-site, and during the day, take a stroll through the surrounding gardens and walking paths. There's also now a satellite branch of the famed indie film center, Cineteca, on the east edge of the campus.

Mexico's National Symphony Orchestra plays regularly throughout the season at the Palacio Bellas Artes, along with visiting orchestras from around the globe. It's one of the best (and most affordable) excuses to enter the iconic building's spectacular main hall. Tickets range from MP1,000 to MP180.

Constructed in 1968 for basketball and volleyball games during the Mexico City Olympics, this massive arena relatively near the airport still hosts occasional sporting events but is best known as a venue for major music concerts. In recent years, Ariana Grande, Imagine Dragons, The Killers, Billie Eilish, Beyoncé, and Madonna have performed here.

Since its opening in 2012, the Pepsi Center WTC has quickly risen to fame as one of the most modern concert venues in Mexico. With a capacity of 7,500 people, it's much smaller (and therefore slightly more intimate) than the other local arenas of Foro Sol, Estadio Azteca, and Palacio de los Deportes. It regularly receives international touring acts and sells out quickly. 

With a Diego Rivera mural covering 5,920 square feet of space above its entrance, this 1,000-seat theater intrigues from its stately location along Insurgentes Avenue. Opened in 1953, it regularly hosts theatrical works, concerts, and even the occasional sporting event. Even if you don’t get a chance to see a performance in this historic theater, even just glimpsing it from the street invites its own fair share of drama as the Rivera mural represents the theatrics of Mexico, from Mexica rituals to scenes of the Mexican Revolution and 20th-century film stars. Check the website for upcoming shows.

Check the website of this small theater space with a cute Mexican restaurant (La Callejera Condesa) to see what's on. The options include a wide range of performances like modern dance, experimental theater, spoken word, and other generally incisive and often funny material.