Visiting Garibaldi

One of my favorite parts of Mexico City was Plaza Garibaldi. The surrounding neighborhood isn’t one of the city’s more polished areas, but Garibaldi has long been famous for its nightlife and especially its musicians. Mariachi groups gather around the plaza waiting to be hired, while bars, restaurants, and music venues surround the streets.

The atmosphere when I visited was considerably rougher and more chaotic than most of the tourist areas I’d seen elsewhere in Mexico City. People were drinking throughout the plaza, musicians were looking for customers, and some people had clearly been drinking for a very long time. At one point I saw a guy dressed in black leather with spikes and a Mohawk who could barely walk.

A Colombian I had met took a flash photograph nearby, which suddenly attracted the attention of a huge guy who seemed about a foot taller than everyone around him. He started yelling and looking around for whoever had taken the picture. It was one of those moments where disappearing into the crowd seemed like the best idea.

Music was everywhere. Rather than performing only on stages, musicians stood around the plaza waiting for someone to hire them for a song. I watched one drunk guy approach a small group of musicians, who began playing while he enthusiastically sang along and his friend recorded the whole performance on a phone.

That was what made Garibaldi so memorable to me. The music wasn’t separated from the crowd or confined to a concert. It was happening all around you, with musicians and visitors mixing together throughout the plaza.

I didn’t go inside this particular bar, but it was one of the famous establishments around Garibaldi and had appeared in Mexican movies. Instead, I went to another restaurant and bar with a large stage and a full night of live entertainment.

Of course, mariachi music was a major part of the show. Before visiting Mexico, I hadn’t realized how much tradition surrounds mariachi music or how elaborate a full ensemble can be. Seeing the musicians perform in Garibaldi was completely different from simply hearing mariachi music played somewhere else. This was a place where the music was part of the identity of the neighborhood.

The entertainment went far beyond mariachi. One performer came onto the stage with a lasso and performed a series of increasingly complicated rope tricks. The room was dark enough that I needed the camera flash, so the photograph doesn’t capture the movement very well, but watching him in person was impressive. He spun and threw the rope around himself at incredible speed without making a mistake.

Other performers rotated onto the stage throughout the night, including singers and dancers. I had expected to hear some live music when I arrived in Garibaldi, but I hadn’t expected the evening to turn into such a large variety show.

One of the most memorable performances featured dancers wearing Indigenous-inspired clothing and performing around a fire in the center of the room. With most of the surrounding area nearly dark, the flames made the entire performance feel much more dramatic.

Another performance acted out a hunt, with one performer playing the hunter and another portraying a deer. It ended with the deer being struck and dramatically collapsing to the ground. The performer committed completely to the role, continuing the death scene for what seemed like a surprisingly long time before finally becoming still.

Later, another group appeared wearing masks depicting old people. One of the dancers tried to pull me onto the stage. I almost went along with it before hesitating and refusing. I guess I remembered one of the lessons I learned in the Marines: never volunteer.

Apparently that wasn’t the end of it. During another dance later in the evening, I think the same woman came back and tried again. She must have sensed my hesitation the first time, because this time I finally gave in and ended up onstage trying to dance with her in front of everyone.

I posed with one of the performers after the show. By this point, what I had expected to be a night of mariachi music had turned into several hours of musicians, dancers, rope tricks, audience participation, and performances I hadn’t expected to see at all.

The biggest surprise came near the end of the night when two roosters were brought out for a cockfight. I didn’t initially understand what was happening, but once the birds were released their purpose became obvious. One quickly overwhelmed the other, and the winning rooster was held up afterward by one of the performers.

Garibaldi ended up being one of the most memorable places I visited in Mexico City. It was loud, chaotic, sometimes a little sketchy, and completely different from the museums, monuments, and archaeological sites I’d spent much of my trip exploring. More than anything else, it was a night where I never really knew what was going to happen next.