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25th Festival de Octubre · Banda, cumbia & marimba · Free admission
Friday, October 23, 2026 · 7:00 PM · Plaza de las Artes at CEART
Time until the concert
Free admission: no tickets and no presale. Anyone charging you is a scam.
The group playing on October 23 is Mi Banda El Mexicano de Germán Román — that is how the Baja California Culture Department announces it. It is not the same group that played the Isla de las Estrellas stage at the 2025 Fiestas del Sol, which was Casimiro Zamudio's. The two have been disputing the band name for years and both play the 1990s classics, so if you look up videos or tickets for other dates, check which one it is.
The 25th Festival de Octubre brings Mexicali a free night of dancing: on Friday, October 23, 2026, starting at 7:00 PM, the Plaza de las Artes at CEART — the open-air esplanade of the State Center for the Arts — hosts Mi Banda El Mexicano de Germán Román, Son Rompe Pera and Sgto. Veneno. The Baja California Cultural Agenda lists about four hours of music.
It is two generations on the same stage. Mi Banda El Mexicano is 1990s tecnocumbia and quebradita — "Ramito de Violetas", "Feliz, Feliz" and "La Bota", songs people still dance to at every wedding. Son Rompe Pera is the opposite and the same at once: a band led by the Gama brothers from Naucalpan, who took the marimba their father used to play on the street and crossed it with cumbia, punk and rock. They just released their third album, "Marimbazos de Oro".
The state Culture Department said the esplanade holds between 3,000 and 4,000 people, and that if more people show up the concert could move to the CEART parking lot. In other words: get there early.
The group led by Germán Román, with the classics that made the Mi Banda El Mexicano name famous in the 1990s along with the "caballito" dance.
The Gama brothers from Naucalpan, playing the marimba they inherited from their father, José Dolores "Batuco". Their first album is named after him, "Batuco", and in September 2026 they premiered their third, "Marimbazos de Oro", at Mexico City's Teatro Metropólitan.
The Baja California Cultural Agenda lists him on the night's lineup. No further details about his set have been published.
Well-known songs by each band per their catalogs (Deezer and iTunes) and press coverage. No setlist has been published — this is indicative.
There are no tickets. It is a public Festival de Octubre concert organized by the Baja California Culture Department, and admission is free. There is no presale and no VIP tier for sale: anyone offering to sell you access is scamming you. Entry is first come, first served until the esplanade fills up.
Cultura BC's Festival de Octubre turns 25 in 2026 with more than a hundred activities across the state. In Mexicali, its other centerpiece is the immersive experience "Yo soy Frida Kahlo" at CEART, opening October 15.
CEART (State Center for the Arts) is on Calzada de los Presidentes at Cd. Victoria. The Plaza de las Artes is its open-air esplanade: a standing show, no seats. By late October Mexicali nights are pleasant, but days are still warm, so bring water and comfortable clothes for dancing. If the esplanade fills up, the concert could move to the CEART parking lot: arrive early and set a meeting point if you go as a group.
Date, venue, lineup and free admission verified on October 5, 2026 against the Baja California Cultural Agenda and El Imparcial (October 1, 2026), which also reported the capacity. Time and duration per the Cultural Agenda. Band details cross-checked between Milenio, Capital CDMX, El Imparcial, Wikipedia and the Deezer and iTunes catalogs. Dates and program may change: confirm through official Cultura BC channels. Illustrative image, digitally generated: it does not show the bands or the actual CEART building.
