Festival Internacional Cultural La Nao
Cultural — music, arts and memory · Acapulco, Guerrero, Mexico
Cultural — music, arts and memory
The festival
La Nao drops anchor in Acapulco again. From 19 to 21 November 2026, the La Nao International Cultural Festival holds its 19th edition: three days of concerts, exhibitions, cinema and encounters reviving the great route of the Manila Galleon, the ship that linked Acapulco to the Philippines from 1565 to 1815.
On Thursday 19 November, the celebration opens at the Zócalo with reading activities and the unveiling of a “site of memory” plaque of the Slave Route, before the inauguration at Parque de la Reina — INBAL soloists on the bill and a tribute to singer Juan Gabriel.
Afro-Mexican memory at the heart of the programme
At the Fuerte de San Diego, talks bring together María Elisa Velázquez Gutiérrez, a specialist from INAH, and Afro-Mexican movement voices Sergio Peñaloza Pérez and Celeste Sánchez Sugía. A journey of memory that makes La Nao far more than a concert festival: a crossing of the European, Asian and African histories that shaped Acapulco.
Three days of celebration on the Pacific
On stage: Galeón Caribe led by Cuba's Orquesta Failde, the Sonora Santanera, and a closing night entrusted to Rocío Banquells on Saturday 21 November. The exhibitions “Diego y Frida” (with INBAL) and “Filipinas” (Embassy of the Philippines), a French film series and children's workshops round out the programme, spread across Parque de la Reina, Sinfonía del Mar, Fuerte de San Diego and the Zócalo. Carried by the City of Acapulco and its culture director Christopher Brito Salgado, the festival announces a budget of about three million pesos and bets first on local artists.