Plaza Garibaldi

Since the 1920s, mariachi musicians have gathered on Plaza Garibaldi to sell their trade song by song, and the plaza remains exactly that - a live hiring market where trumpeters warm up under the arcades, violinists in charro suits cluster by monument statues of Pedro Infante and Jose Alfredo Jimenez, and a family celebrating a birthday can summon a nine-piece band with a wave. Nothing here is staged for visitors; the serenades are bought by chilangos for mothers, sweethearts and anniversaries, and eavesdropping is free. Around the square, the Museum of Tequila and Mezcal (MUTEM) explains the national spirits with a tasting on its terrace, the Salon Tenampa - founded 1925 - keeps murals of the mariachi saints above its booths, and pulquerias and cantinas pour until the small hours. Norteno trios, jarocho harpists and organ grinders fill the gaps between brass. It is loud, unpolished and genuinely moving when a bought song lands on the right pair of eyes.

What you actually see

• The bands for hire - full mariachis quoting prices per song.
• Salon Tenampa - the 1925 cantina where the tradition drinks.
• MUTEM - the tequila and mezcal museum with terrace tastings.
• The statues - bronze idols of ranchera's greatest names.

When to go

After 8 pm any night, when the plaza fills; Friday and Saturday peak toward midnight. November 21-22, Santa Cecilia's feast, brings hundreds of musicians honoring their patron saint at dawn mass and all-day song.

Honest expectations

Agree the price per song before the band plays. Several bands often play at once, so the square is a wall of competing brass rather than one clean performance. Cantina bills climb quickly once the trumpets find your table.

Nearby

Bellas Artes and the Alameda ten minutes south; the Lagunilla market sprawls just east on Sundays.