This Riviera Maya Food Festival Has Michelin-Starred Dinners, Jungle Concerts, and Storytelling

It begins with the scent of woodsmoke rising into the jungle sky, somewhere between Playa del Carmen and Tulum. You walk past limestone paths and hanging lanterns, the air thick with the sound of marimba and the heat of open flame. A plate is passed to you—earthy, fragrant, unfamiliar—and for a moment, everything else disappears.

This is Apapaxoa, a six-day celebration of cuisine, creativity, and connection in the heart of the Riviera Maya. Hosted at Hotel Xcaret México, the festival returns in 2025 with a renewed sense of purpose: to explore the intersection of food and culture, memory and innovation, in one of Mexico’s most captivating settings.

What to Expect at Apapaxoa

The Apapaxoa GastroCultural Festival brings together more than fifty voices from around the world—chefs, artists, sommeliers, writers, and cultural thinkers—each offering a different lens through which to understand the role of food in shaping our lives. For six days, the Riviera Maya becomes a meeting ground for flavors, stories, and disciplines, with experiences unfolding across Xcaret’s hotels, restaurants, and cultural spaces.

Guests can expect a rhythm that moves between intimate tastings and theatrical dinners, chef conversations and musical performances, all designed to invite reflection as much as indulgence. Apapaxoa is more than a typical food festival — it’s a deeper, more layered experience where a single dish can carry history, emotion, and art.

A Dinner That Redefines Legacy

One of the most anticipated evenings is a gala dinner in honor of Enrique Olvera, the chef behind Pujol and a central figure in the international rise of modern Mexican cuisine. His influence will be celebrated through a collaborative meal prepared by some of his most accomplished protégés—now acclaimed chefs in their own right—who will reinterpret his legacy through their own voices and culinary signatures. It promises to be one of the most personal and moving moments of the entire event.

More Than Food: A Cultural Constellation

Apapaxoa stretches far beyond the kitchen. This year’s edition will welcome contributions from a wide spectrum of creators, including novelist Laura Esquivel, whose stories of sensual cooking helped shape a generation of readers; Colombian music group Monsieur Periné, bringing their signature sound to the jungle stage; and Oaxacan visual artist Amador Montes, whose work evokes deep ties between land, identity, and creation.

The conversations aren’t limited to gastronomy. There will be reflections on storytelling, memory, and the creative process, all grounded in the context of Mexico’s cultural heritage and the global dialogue surrounding it.

The Riviera Maya’s Culinary Identity, On Full Display

Much of the heart of Apapaxoa beats within the kitchens of the Xcaret Hotels Gastronomic Collective. This group of seventeen chefs has transformed the Riviera Maya into one of Latin America’s most dynamic culinary destinations, with a portfolio of restaurants that includes Ha’, Xaak, Bio, Centli, and Lumbre. Some have earned Michelin stars. All are rooted in the diverse traditions of Mexico, reinterpreted with originality and purpose.

Throughout the week, the collective will host a series of special dinners, tastings, and collaborations, many set in dramatic open-air spaces that heighten the connection between food and place. Guests will have the chance to experience the full breadth of Xcaret’s culinary philosophy, from contemporary plant-based explorations to ancestral Yucatecan flavors reimagined for the present.

A Festival of Emotion and Memory

The name Apapaxoa comes from Nahuatl, and it means “to embrace with the soul.” It’s a fitting expression for an event that resists categories and invites feeling. This is not just a showcase of gastronomy — it is a gathering of stories and sensations, set against the rich natural and cultural backdrop of the Riviera Maya.

Here, every meal is a conversation. Every performance is a reflection. And every guest leaves with more than they expected—something felt, something remembered, something carried home.

Getting There

Hotel Xcaret México is located just south of Playa del Carmen, roughly 45 minutes from Cancun International Airport. The resort gives you complimentary transportation for guests, making it an easy and seamless arrival for travelers flying in from the United States. Once on property, the experience is immersive and all-encompassing, with festival events unfolding throughout the hotel’s restaurants, performance venues, and natural settings. You can find cheap flight options at Google Flights.