Culinary Festivals in the Riviera Maya and Grand Costa Maya
The Riviera Maya and Grand Costa Maya have excellent restaurants and dishes of their own, and through the year they also host culinary festivals where chefs, traditional cooks, food lovers and travelers meet around the flavors of Quintana Roo. These are the three to know.
Riviera Maya Wine & Food Festival
Its full name is the Cancun-Riviera Maya Wine & Food Festival, and it was founded by David Amar in 2012 as a showcase for fine dining and wine culture. Each edition gathers chefs, sommeliers and winemakers from Mexico and abroad for several days of multi-course dinners, guided tastings and cooking demonstrations, spread across resorts in Cancún and along the Riviera Maya. Some of the best moments happen outdoors: closing dinners have been served on the sand in Playa del Carmen, with live music and dancing until late.
The festival counts a dozen editions between Cancún-Riviera Maya and Mexico City, and its most recent ones have been held in the capital. Dates for the next edition are announced on its official site, so check there before planning a trip around it.
Festival Gastronómico del Caribe Mexicano
The Festival Gastronómico del Caribe Mexicano (Mexican Caribbean Gastronomic Festival) is the state’s own celebration of traditional cooking. The Comité de Fomento a la Gastronomía de Quintana Roo organizes it with the state tourism ministry (SEDETUR) and the host municipality, and all twelve destinations of the Mexican Caribbean take part with their own cooks. The heart of the weekend is the Kermés del Caribe Mexicano, a big open-air fair where you taste dishes from the sea and the jungle stall by stall. Alongside it, the Isla del Ingrediente Invitado is devoted to one featured ingredient, from how it is produced to how to cook it, and the Tianguis del Mayab sells produce straight from local farmers. Workshops, talks and regional music and dance fill the rest of the program.
The festival moves each year. It began in Cancún in 2022, then went to Playa del Carmen in 2023 and Puerto Morelos in 2024, when the featured ingredient was jack mackerel (jurel). The fourth edition, in Bacalar’s central park in March 2025, put pineapple in the spotlight and drew more than 7,500 visitors. The fifth took place in Cozumel on February 21 and 22, 2026, with coconut as the guest ingredient. Recent editions have landed in February or March; SEDETUR’s event calendar is the place to watch for the next host.
Festival de la Langosta (Punta Allen, Tulum)
If seafood is your thing, this is your festival. The Festival de la Langosta celebrates the spiny lobster of Punta Allen, the fishing village at the tip of the Sian Ka’an reserve, where the local cooperative has built a reputation for sustainable lobster fishing. The Quintana Roo tourism ministry organizes it with Tulum’s municipal government and the cooperative, and it has been held in August, in the middle of lobster season. The 2025 edition, the third, ran from August 15 to 17: it opened at the esplanade of Tulum’s municipal palace and then moved to Punta Allen, with a lobster-dish competition among local cooks, a fresh seafood market, cooking classes and live music, all with free admission. Grilled lobster on the beach, lobster ceviche, lobster tacos: come hungry.
Culinary festivals across the Mexican Caribbean are the shortest route to the region’s table: local and international flavors side by side, and the cooks right there to tell you what you are eating.
