By Harry Nara · Last updated
- The first posadaWednesday 16 December 2026
- The ninth and last, on Christmas EveThursday 24 December 2026
- Where
- Coyoacán
- Tickets
- Free
- Time of year
- December
- Dates
- Around the same dates every year
Fixed to 16 to 24 December every year. The public posadas are announced by the alcaldías and parishes in December, and their venues change from year to year; in 2025 the alcaldías’ free community posadas ran from 19 to 23 December, from 4pm to 6pm.
Las Posadas are the nine nights before Christmas, when Mexicans re-enact Mary and Joseph’s search for a place to stay. A group carrying candles sings at a closed door asking for shelter, the people inside sing back their refusal until the last verse, and then the door opens and the ponche, the tamales and the piñata come out. Most posadas are private, among families, neighbours and colleagues, so the visitor’s real question is how to get through a door. The answer is the free public posadas run by the city’s boroughs, the parishes, and the plazas of Coyoacán, where a stranger with a cup of ponche fits right in.
What Las Posadas actually is
The custom is traced to the Augustinian friars at Acolman, north-east of the capital, who in the colonial era turned the masses of the days before Christmas into a re-enactment of the journey to Bethlehem. Over the centuries it moved out of the church and into the street, and became the neighbourhood party it is now.
The song is the heart of it. Outside, the pilgrims sing the verses of “pedir posada”, asking for lodging; inside, the innkeepers answer that there is no room, until the pilgrims say who they are and the door is thrown open. The piñata comes afterwards, and the classic one is a star with seven points, read as the seven deadly sins and broken blindfolded with a stick so that the fruit and sweets inside can fall.
Where to find a posada
- A community posada. The city’s boroughs, the alcaldías, hold free public posadas in parks and plazas in the days before Christmas, with piñatas, ponche and music in the late afternoon. The venues change each year and are announced in December.
- Coyoacán. The plazas around the Jardín Centenario fill on December evenings, stalls sell ponche and tamales, and the parish and neighbourhood posadas of the old village spill into the streets.
- A parish church. Churches across the city hold posadas for their neighbourhoods on the nine evenings, and a visitor who follows the procession and joins the singing is taking part.
- Acolman, for the history. The town where the custom began, near Teotihuacán, has held a piñata fair in December, and its old Augustinian convent makes a good stop on a day trip to the pyramids.
Tickets and what it costs
Nothing needs buying or booking. A public posada is free, ponche from a stall costs a few dozen pesos, and if you are invited to a private one the custom is to arrive with something for the table or the piñata, or a bag of tejocotes and sugarcane for the pot.
Official information and booking: mexicocity.cdmx.gob.mx
Getting there
The centre of Coyoacán is not close to the Metro: the Line 3 stations are a twenty-minute walk or more from the Jardín Centenario, so after dark a ride-hailing car is simpler.
The evenings before Christmas are the worst of the year on the roads, with shopping, office parties and posadas all moving at once. Allow far longer than usual to cross the city.
Mistakes worth avoiding
Looking for one big celebration
There is no single posada to attend. The tradition lives in thousands of small ones, so plan on a borough’s community posada or an evening in Coyoacán rather than searching for a parade.
Turning up empty-handed
At any posada you are invited to, bring something for the table or the piñata. Arriving with nothing is the surest way to stand out.
Standing too close to the piñata
The stick is swung blind, and the people holding the rope move the piñata to make it harder to hit. Watch from a step back until the sweets fall, then join the scramble.
Dressing for the daytime
At about 2,240 metres the city loses its warmth fast once the sun goes, and December nights drop to single figures. A posada is an evening outdoors, so bring a proper jacket.
Treating the ponche as fruit juice
It is often spiked with rum, and at this height a cup goes further than it would at sea level. Ask what is in the pot before a refill.
Other Mexico City events
Frequently asked questions
When are Las Posadas?
On the nine nights before Christmas, ending on Christmas Eve. The dates never move, and this edition’s head the page.
Can tourists go to a posada in Mexico City?
Yes. The free community posadas held by the city’s boroughs are open to everyone, and so are the December evenings in the plazas of Coyoacán. A private posada needs an invitation.
What is ponche?
A hot fruit punch made in big pots for the season, with tejocotes, guava, sugarcane, cinnamon and piloncillo, sometimes with a splash of rum. It is the drink of every posada.
Why does the posada piñata have seven points?
Each point stands for one of the seven deadly sins. Breaking it blindfolded is read as faith overcoming temptation, and the fruit and sweets that fall out as the reward.
What is sung at a posada?
The litany for asking lodging, sung in two parts: the pilgrims outside ask for shelter verse by verse, the hosts inside refuse, and on the last verse they recognise Mary and Joseph and open the door.
Sources
- N+, the alcaldías’ community posadas
- Expansión, the meaning of the seven-pointed piñata
- Matador Network, Acolman and the first posadas
Dates on this page are checked against the organiser’s own listing and confirmed through 2027. Written and maintained by Harry Nara.