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10 Things You Didn't Know About Guadalajara✨

Updated: 2 days ago

That Will Make It Your Favorite City of 2026


Most people think they know Guadalajara.

They've heard about the mariachi, tried the tequila, maybe snapped a photo at the cathedral.

They're missing a LOT.


Because while tourists are following the same tired guidebook recommendations, locals are attending free wine tastings in secret rooms, getting professional film festival accreditation for less than a nice dinner, and discovering Paris in the middle of Mexico without ever boarding a plane.


In 2026, Guadalajara isn't just hosting the FIFA World Cup – it's setting Guinness World Records, launching brand-new cultural festivals, and giving away 5 million trees to turn this metropolis into Mexico's greenest city. And somehow, almost none of this is on anyone's radar.


So here's what we're about to share with you: 10 things you absolutely need to know about Guadalajara that will make you fall in love with this city – or if you already live here, fall in love all over again.


Ready? Let's dive in⚡(Exceptionally this article is 100% free)



1. 🎬FICG Pro Accreditation - Access Latin America's Premier Film Festival


Most people think major film festivals are only for industry insiders. Wrong. FICG - One of Latin America's most important film festivals - offers public's inexpensive tickets (100 pesos) and accreditation to professional even emerging talents not yet well known. That accreditation gives you access to screenings, workshops, panels with filmmakers, and networking events that would cost thousands of dollars at Cannes or Sundance.


Here's the insider path:


📋 STEP 1: MONITOR THEIR WEBSITE 🌐 Check regularly: https://ficg.mx/ 📍 Click top menu → Look for "ACCREDITATIONS" (not the press one) ⏰ Status: Not available yet 🔔 Keep checking (it should appear before February!)

✍️ STEP 2: SUBMIT YOUR REQUEST 📝 Once accreditations appear (it should appear before February!) 📧 Submit your application (it is limited in characters so there isn't much you can say. It must be impactful)

💳 STEP 3: PAY THE ACCREDITATION FEE ✅ Once your application is approved 💰 Complete payment to finalize (should be around 2000 pesos)

⏳ STEP 4: WAIT FOR PROFILE ACCESS 📅 Should be before: March 2026 🟢 Wait for the green light from FICG 🔓 Access granted to create your pro profile (add photo & text for your project) 🎯 Get ready to showcase yourself!

🔍 STEP 5: BROWSE & REQUEST MEETINGS 👥 Explore other 500+ film professional profiles 🎯 Identify key contacts in your niche 📨 Send meeting requests strategically

🤝 STEP 6: ATTEND & NAIL IT! ⚡ Speed dating-style pro meetings (20 min meeting) 🎬 Pitch your projects with confidence (Some speak English, some don't) 🌟 I wish you the best of luck 🎬 Attend film screenings, workshops and Happy Hours in between meetings


🎯 TIMELINE OVERVIEW:

  • 🗓️ Now - February: Monitor & apply

  • 🗓️ February: Get approved & pay

  • 🗓️ March: Create profile & request meetings

  • 🗓️ 17-25 April: Festival time—make it count!


2. 🍷Free Wine/Spirits Tastings at City Market


Most people see City Market as just another upscale grocery store. They're missing the best-kept secret in Guadalajara's wine scene. City Market - Mexico's finest grocery chain with 2 locations in Guadalajara - hosts free weekly wine and spirits tastings in a beautiful intimate room. We're talking professional sommeliers guiding you through French wines, aged cognac, premium tequila, and Champagne.


The catch? Only 10 people get in. Here's how to be one of them:


📍 STEP 1: KNOW YOUR LOCATIONS

  • Guadalajara has 2 City Market stores

  • Both have incredible wine & spirits sections

  • The tasting room is intimate, elegant, and feels like a private club

📅 STEP 2: MONITOR THE CALENDAR 🌐 Check regularly🔔 New tastings drop regularly ⚡ First 10 to RSVP get in - spots fill FAST

🎯 STEP 3: RSVP IMMEDIATELY ✅ See a tasting you like? Reserve instantly 📧 Confirm your spot 🎉 You're in!


3. 🍾Nuit à Paris Festival - Paris Without the Flight


4. ⚽ FIFA Fan Festival - 39 Days FREE


We all know Guadalajara is one of the 3 Mexican cities (and 16 total across North America) hosting the 2026 FIFA World Cup. What a privilege to live here during this once-in-a-lifetime event.


But here's the problem: World Cup tickets are expensive. We're talking thousands of pesos per match. Some people want to boycott FIFA on principle but still experience the energy of the tournament.


The solution? The city of Guadalajara is throwing a FREE 39-day watch party.


📅 WHEN: June 11 - July 19, 2026 ⏰ During match hours (39 consecutive days!)

👉 DETAILS: Check TWIG + Gov Website for updates

📍 WHERE: Plaza Liberación, Centro (right by the Cathedral)

💰 COST: Completely FREE

🎯 WHAT TO EXPECT: ✅ Giant screens broadcasting every match ✅ Maximum security presence ✅ Heart of Guadalajara's historic center ✅ The energy of thousands of fans united ✅ Street food vendors, celebrations, atmosphere ✅ No ticket required, just show up

⚠️ THE ONE CAVEAT: You won't be alone. Think tens of thousands of passionate soccer fans in one plaza. If crowds aren't your thing, this isn't your scene. But if you want to feel the pulse of a city united by futbol? This is it.



5. 🏆Guinness World Record Attempt


The city is planning to set a Guinness World Record during the 2026 FIFA World Cup - and you (or your kids) can literally be part of it.


🎯 THE GOAL: Create the longest children's ball-passing relay ever recorded

📍 THE ROUTE: 21 kilometers from the historic Estadio Jalisco to the modern Estadio Akron (Chivas Stadium)

👥 THE PARTICIPANTS: Thousands of children and young people forming a continuous human chain, passing a single football person-to-person across the entire distance

📅 WHEN: During the 2026 World Cup festivities (exact date TBA)

👉 DETAILS: Check TWIG + Gov Website for updates

🎯 THE PURPOSE:

  • Engage the entire community in World Cup celebrations

  • Showcase Guadalajara's spirit as a host city

  • Create an unforgettable memory for thousands of kids

  • Unite two iconic stadiums - one historic, one modern - through youth and sport

⚽ BONUS RECORDS: Mexico is planning additional Guinness attempts:

  • "Largest Soccer Class" (March 2026)

  • "Largest Soccer Mural" (May 2026)

💡 THE EXPERIENCE: Imagine: Your child standing shoulder-to-shoulder with thousands of other kids, passing a ball through the streets of Guadalajara, knowing they're part of a world record. The energy, the pride, the pure joy of being part of something bigger than themselves.

🎯 HOW TO PARTICIPATE: Details on registration will be announced closer to the event. Follow official Guadalajara World Cup social media channels for updates.



6. ✨Selfie Museum - Where Adults Become Kids


When I was looking for something fun to surprise my spouse, I didn't expect the Selfie Museum in Centro Histórico to absolutely delight us.


Here we are in our 50s, and we couldn't get enough of it.


📍 WHERE: Centro Histórico 🔗 https://centroculturalnem.com (280 pesos for 3 bundle museums)

🎯 WHAT IT IS: An immersive journey through interactive art installations designed for pure joy and playfulness. Every room is a new world - more creative and fun than the last.

💫 THE EXPERIENCE:

  • Multiple themed rooms, each more inventive than the last

  • Instagram-worthy? Sure. But more importantly: FUN-worthy

  • Interactive installations that make you laugh, play, and forget you're a grown-up

  • Perfect for couples, friend groups, or solo adventures

  • Birthday celebrations? We tested it - LOTS OF FUN confirmed

🎨 WHY IT WORKS: Forget "selfie museum" implies narcissism. This is about rediscovering play. When was the last time you jumped into a ball pit? Posed in absurd scenarios? Laughed until your face hurt?



7. 🌹MUPE - Create Custom Perfume for Your Loved One


Looking for the most romantic, thoughtful Valentine's gift? Forget buying something off the shelf. Create a custom perfume designed specifically for your loved one. Welcome to MUPE (Museo del Perfume) - Guadalajara's newest cultural gem in the heart of Tlaquepaque.


🗓 Daily (except Monday) 10am - 5pm

⏰ 12 & 4 PM sharp for guided tour (English or Spanish)

📍 MUPE – Museo del Perfume, Tlaquepaque

🗣 Private guided tour in ENGLISH (I reserved a group for *10 people*)


👣 The Visit

  • Guided museum tour (30–40 min)

  • 7 themed rooms exploring scent, history, memory

  • Discover essential oils, perfume-making processes & sensory rooms

  • Arrive 10 minutes early to purchase your ticket


🎟 Admission (paid on-site)

  • General: $80 pesos (2X1 on Tuesdays)

  • Students, seniors & people with disabilities: $35 pesos


🌿 Optional Workshops

  • Create your own Cologne Water (fruity, citrus or floral): $600 pesos

  • Aromatic Sachets Workshop: $150 pesos


8. 🎫 2x1 Concert Tickets - Save Thousands


Here's a secret that will save you hundreds (or thousands) of pesos on concerts, shows, and performances in Guadalajara:


The two main ticket sellers in Mexico offer 2-for-1 promotions on select events - but only on specific days of the week. Most people miss this completely.


🗓️ MARK YOUR CALENDAR:


9. 🌳Adopt Your Free Tree - 5 Million Tree Goal


Guadalajara has an ambitious green vision: One tree for every inhabitant. With a metropolitan population of approximately 5 million people, that means 5 million trees need to find homes across our city. It's not just an environmental goal - it's a movement to transform Guadalajara into the most wooded metropolitan area in all of Mexico.


📊 WHERE WE ARE NOW:

  • Over 2 million trees adopted and planted in the last 10+ years

🎯 THE MISSION: Make the Guadalajara Metropolitan Area (AMG) the most wooded in the country by giving trees away in adoption, reforesting urban/rural/forest areas, mitigating carbon footprint, and raising environmental awareness.

🌿 WHY IT MATTERS:

Environmental Benefits: ✅ One adult tree absorbs up to 150kg of pollutants per year ✅ Urban forests reduce temperature by 2-8 degrees Celsius ✅ Trees regulate climate and water cycles ✅ Carbon capture and cleaner air ✅ Soil conservation and increased biodiversity ✅ Natural disaster mitigation

💚 HOW TO ADOPT YOUR FREE TREE:

🌐 WEBSITE: THE BOSQUE URBANO

📍 LOCATION: Bosque Urbano de Extra, A.C. Northwestern corner of Guadalajara

⏰ HOURS:

  • Monday - Friday: 9:00am - 4:30pm

  • Saturday: 9:00am - 2:00pm

📋 WHAT TO BRING: Proof of address (comprobante de domicilio):

  • Phone bill

  • Voting card (INE)

  • Any official document with your address

🌱 THE PROCESS:

  1. Choose Your Tree - Expert biologists help you select based on:

    • How much sun you have

    • Size of your space (sidewalk, patio, pot)

    • Water availability

    • Your climate conditions

  2. Adopt Up to 2 Trees - Per visit, completely free

  3. Get Expert Guidance - Learn proper planting and care techniques

  4. Join the Family - They consider you a "foster parent" and may follow up to see how your trees are thriving


10. TWIG's Top 3 Culinary Experiences


A. 🎨 BRUNA - Most Beautiful Restaurant + FREE Art Tour

  • Black & white Art Deco, gardens, exclusive gallery

  • 10 mole sampler, Duck Tamal, pork shank in black mole

  • Ask for complimentary art tour after dinner (most people don't know!)

  • Lerdo de Tejada #2418 | https://www.bruna.com.mx/


B. 👩‍🍳Casa Humo - Traditional Cooking Class

  • Chef Nidia teaches UNESCO-recognized Mexican gastronomy

  • Bilingual, hands-on, social atmosphere

  • Choose menu: Oaxacan mole, tetelas, pollo pibil + tequila tasting

  • Proudly sponsored by TWIG | https://www.casahumogdl.com/


C. 🚶Culinary Backstreets - 5-Hour Food Tour


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Conclusion


These aren't the things you'll find in guidebooks. These are the insider secrets that transform Guadalajara from a place you visit into a city you can't imagine leaving.


And here's the best part: We've only scratched the surface in this article. For full 800+ upcoming exciting events & activities in Guadalajara, check daily the TWIG Events Calendar!


Enjoy Life in GDL With TWIG! 👀

👉TWIG: https://www.thisweekinguadalajara.com

👉Not a TWIG Members yet? It's not too late 👉 https://www.thisweekinguadalajara.com/pricing-plans/list

🌟Join our lively WhatsApp Community: https://chat.whatsapp.com/E9AdJQ3BGeLKYrKGaUCdrc

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