Our Night at Navidalia

For the past several years, I’ve watched videos of Calaverandia and Navidalia—two massive holiday-themed parks in Guadalajara that mix performance, art, technology, architecture, and interactive storytelling. Their goal, as the creators put it, is “to transport visitors into a festive dreamscape.” And honestly, that’s exactly the kind of dreamscape I’ve always wanted to wander through.

I promised myself that the first chance I got, I’d go. So back in November, we bought VIP tickets—about $100 each. We were quite ill when we arrived in Mexico, so we crossed our fingers that our flu/RSV situation would clear up in time. Thankfully, the day before and the day of the event, we felt pretty good. I’ll admit I was still dragging a bit when we left the apartment, but excitement carried me the rest of the way.

Navidalia is divided into four “worlds”: European, Nordic, Middle Eastern, and Mexican Posada. We had a great time strolling through each one.

The Middle Eastern world had some of the best performers of the night—musicians and dancers blending different styles into a lively show. I wasn’t entirely sure how it tied into Christmas… unless we’re counting the fact that Christ was born in that region, and perhaps one could imagine that he occasionally enjoyed the charms of some flame-wielding belly dancer.

We walked through Nordic World next, which leaned into the slightly spookier side of Christmas. There were looming tree spirits, stern-looking gnomes, and elves who seemed like they’d had a long year at the toy factory. A few of the younger kids were not amused. Let’s just say this wasn’t the “jolly snowman and cocoa” version of the holidays.

We wrapped up the night well before the midnight closing with the big finale show, Canticorum—a gloriously over-the-top orchestral performance of Christmas carols (mostly in English). They had everything: strings, horns, a piano, tympani, a bagpipe, and vocalists in every style imaginable. A few performers were genuinely excellent. The rest… well, let’s just say they weren’t exactly the San Francisco Opera. But what they lacked in pitch, they made up for with sequins, fireworks, and artificial snow falling on the audience. Hard to complain when you’re being showered in glitter and holiday cheer.

All in all, it was a fantastic night, and I’d absolutely do it again. I’m especially eager to see Calaverandia, the Day of the Dead version of the park. Unfortunately, we’ll be in Japan next year, so Calaverandia will have to wait until 2027.