Treat your crush to some corn on the cob! There will be a National Corn Festival in the Zócalo of Mexico City
Visit Mexico City's Historic Center and enjoy some elote with your partner, your crush, your friends, or your family. The Zócalo will host the Great National Elotiza, an event where you can try elotes or esquites prepared with spicy or mild chili, as well as many other Mexican dishes and snacks.
This is how the Great National Corn Festival will be.
The Great National Corn Festival will be held to celebrate National Corn Day, a plant that not only serves as the basis of Mexican gastronomy, but also forms part of the identity of our people.
According to the Ministry of Culture, the Ministry of Welfare, the National Institute of Indigenous Peoples and the Sembrando Vida program, which are organizing the event, there will be workshops, conferences and exhibitions where you can learn more about corn.
But undoubtedly the most attractive thing will be the display of different dishes made with recipes where corn will be the main ingredient.
For reference, in 2025 the National Corn Day celebration was held at the Monument to the Revolution and was attended by around 250 producers. In addition to esquites and elotes, there were traditional snacks such as tlacoyos, sopes, gorditas, pozole, quesadillas, tamales, atole, and more.
Date and time
The event will take place on Tuesday, September 29, during the commemoration of National Corn Day.
According to the institutions organizing the event, the opening ceremony will be at 11:00 a.m. Afterwards, the activities can be enjoyed until 7:00 p.m.
Corn and its importance to Mexican culture
According to data from the Mexican Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, more than 27,500 tons of corn are produced annually in our country. This represents more than 87% of the national grain production.
Mexico has 64 varieties of corn, of which 59 are native.
The agency adds that Mexico is the center of origin of corn, which was domesticated more than 7,000 years ago and over the centuries served as the basis of the diet of cultures such as the Aztec, Mayan, Zapotec and Mixtec.
Therefore, September 29th was declared National Corn Day in 2019. The aim is to celebrate a plant that “has a profound meaning that goes beyond its economic value, representing the connection of the Mexican people with their land and their history.”
Date: Tuesday, September 29
Hours: 11:00 AM to 7:00 PM
Location: Zócalo of Mexico City.
Cost: Free admission
