Live Performance in Guadalajara

Plaza de Armas. The State Band of Jalisco and the Municipal Band sometimes play at the bandstand on Tuesday around 6:30 pm. Av. Corona between Calle Morelos and Pedro Moreno, across from Palacio de Gobierno, Centro Histórico Zapopan, Guadalajara, Jalisco, 44100.

Small, triangular Plaza de los Mariachis, south of the Mercado Libertad, was once the ideal place to tip up a beer and experience mariachi, the most Mexican of music, at about $15 a pop. Now boxed in by a busy street, a market, and a run-down neighborhood, it's safest to visit in the day or late afternoon.

For about the same amount of money but a more tourist-friendly atmosphere, mariachis at El Parián, in Tlaquepaque, will treat you to a song or two as you sip margaritas at this enormous, partly covered conglomeration of 17 cantinas running diagonally from the town's main plaza. Once a marketplace dating from 1883, it has traditional cazuela drinks, which are made of fruit and tequila and served in ceramic pots.

Ballet Folclórico of the University of Guadalajara. After a brief stint at the newer Teatro Diana, the internationally acclaimed Ballet Folclórico of the University of Guadalajara has returned to perform its traditional Mexican folkloric dances and music in the Teatro Degollado most Sundays at 12:30 pm; tickets are $5–$25. Calle Belén s/n, Guadalajara, Jalisco, 44630. 33/3614–4773. www.ballet.udg.mx.

Orquesta Filarmónica de Jalisco. Though it's among Mexico's most poorly paid orchestras, the state-funded philharmonic manages remarkably good performances (usually pieces by Mexican composers mixed with standard orchestral fare). When in season (it varies), the OFJ performs Sunday afternoons and Wednesday and Friday evenings at Teatro Delgollado. On the facing plaza, they hold an annual outdoor performance that helps kick off September's Mariachi Festival. Calle Belen at Morelos, Teatro Degollado, Guadalajara, Jalisco. 33/3030-9772. www.ofj.com.mx. $8–$35.