Mexico City This Week: Three Nights of Lucha Libre From US$7
Mexico City · WHAT’S ON
Mexico City’s week has an easy centre of gravity: Arena México stages lucha libre on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. Tickets start at about US$7.
Lucha libre, three nights
Arena México runs three cards this week. Tuesday is Martes Populares, the cheap-seat night, starting at 7.30pm.
Thursday belongs to Jueves de Verano, the summer Thursday series. Friday is Viernes Espectacular, the big card of the week, at 8.30pm.
All three are promoted by CMLL, the Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre. It has run the Mexico City arena since the 1930s.
Prices across the week run from MXN 112 to MXN 732, about US$7 to US$43 at 17.02 pesos to the dollar. Seat categories have not been broken out.
The three nights are not interchangeable. Tuesday is cheap and rowdy, Friday is the card the promoters build the week around.
Lucha libre is the cheapest big night out in this city. A ringside seat costs less than a concert ticket almost anywhere.
Where the arena is, and what to expect
Arena México is at Dr. Lavista 189, in Colonia Doctores, a short ride from the centre. It is not a neighbourhood to wander at night.
Arrive and leave by taxi or ride-hailing. That is standard advice for this part of Mexico City after dark.
The atmosphere is family theatre rather than sport. Children are everywhere on the popular nights, and the crowd works as hard as the wrestlers.
Photography rules vary by card, and the arena has been known to restrict cameras. Phones are fine.
Masks are sold outside the arena from about MXN 100. Buying one is not compulsory, but nobody will look at you oddly.
Free: inside the Palacio de Bellas Artes, Mexico City
Guided tours of the Palacio de Bellas Artes run free on Tuesday and Wednesday this week. Friday adds a special route through the dressing rooms, wardrobe, boxes and terrace.
Times have not been published. The tours are announced day by day, so ask at the entrance rather than planning around a fixed hour.
It is the best way into a building most visitors only photograph from outside.
The building is the city’s opera house and its most photographed interior. The murals alone justify the hour.
Free from Friday: the amaranth fair
The Feria del Amaranto returns to the Monumento a la Revolución from Friday 21 to Sunday 23 August. Entry is free.
Friday runs 10am to 6pm, Saturday 9am to 6pm and Sunday 10am to 4pm. The programme covers live music, theatre, pre-Hispanic ceremonies, food and sport.
Amaranth is the grain Mexicans know from alegrías, the sesame-and-honey bars sold on every corner. The fair is built around growers and producers.
The monument is at Plaza de la República, in Tabacalera, walkable from the Revolución metro station.
It runs to Sunday, so Friday is not the only chance. Saturday opens earliest, at 9am.
It is one of the few free fairs that takes over a landmark in central Mexico City. The setting alone is worth the walk.
Also on
Sam Smith is in residency at the Auditorio Nacional, with dates on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. Start times and prices have not been published in the listings we checked.
Chapultepec forest is free and open all week. It remains the simplest answer to a spare afternoon in Mexico City.
Mercado de San Juan trades daily. The Bazar del Sábado in San Ángel opens on Saturday, if you are staying past Friday.
Buying tickets as a visitor
No official seller is named in the current lucha libre listings. The arena box office is the reliable route, and it opens well before the card.
Bring identification and a card. Mexican venues take cards without difficulty, and the box office queue moves faster than it looks.
Cards change through the week and are usually confirmed a few days out. The arena posts them at the door.
Frequently Asked Questions
When is lucha libre at Arena México this week?
Tuesday 18 August at 7.30pm for Martes Populares and Friday 21 August at 8.30pm for Viernes Espectacular. Thursday 20 August belongs to the Jueves de Verano series.
How much do lucha libre tickets cost?
From MXN 112 to MXN 732, roughly US$7 to US$43 at 17.02 pesos to the dollar. The listings give a range rather than a breakdown by seat category.
What is free in Mexico City this week?
Guided tours of the Palacio de Bellas Artes on Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. The Feria del Amaranto opens Friday at the Monumento a la Revolución, and Chapultepec is free all week.
Where is Arena México?
At Dr. Lavista 189 in Colonia Doctores, in the Cuauhtémoc borough. It is a short taxi ride from the historic centre, and a taxi back at night is the sensible choice.