Baseball

Mexicali’s professional baseball team, Las Aquilas (The Eagles), is part of the Mexican Pacific League and plays at El Nido de las Aguilas (Eagles’ Nest) stadium, located in the Cuidad Deportiva (City Sports Complex, Calz. Justo Sierra, tel. 686/567-5129, www.aguilasdemexicali.com.mx, Nov.–Jan.). General admission tickets start at US$40.

Nightlife

Antrojo (Calz. Juárez 1807, tel. 686/568-2129) plays house music for a younger crowd. It’s open until 2 A.M. Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday.

La Capilla is a music and dance club inside the Hotel Lucerna (Calz. Juárez 2151, tel. 686/564-7000, until 2 A.M. nightly). Bars at the Hotel Crowne Plaza, Araiza Inn Mexicali, and Araiza Inn Calafía often have live music in the evening.

Theater

Baja California’s state theater, the Teatro del Estado (tel. 686/554-6419, icbcteatrodelestado [at] hotmail [dot] com), occupies a 1,100-seat venue at Calzado López Mateos and Avenida Castellanos. The city tourist office also has performance schedules (tel. 888/268-8262).

Festivals and Events

Baja Prog (www.bajaprog.org) takes place in March, with four days of progressive rock band performances. Most of the festival takes place at the Hotel Araiza, but the finale is held at the Teatro Del Estado (State Theatre) on Boulevard López Mateos.

In March or April, the Mexicali 500 (www.codeoffroad.com.mx) off-road race starts in Mexicali and ends in San Felipe. The course follows the Laguna Salada dry lakebed.

In September–October, the Fiesta del Sol (Parque Vicente Guerrero, www.fiestasdelsol.com.mx) draws some 500,000 people over the course of 21 days to commemorate the founding of Mexicali in 1904. During the event, a festival queen is named and a number of cultural performances and art shows provide entertainment.

In November the local chamber of restaurants, CANIRAC, holds Muestra Gastronómica, a food fair featuring Mexican, seafood, and Chinese cuisines (tel. 686/554-3285, www.canirac.org.mx).

On Sunday afternoons, mariachi groups often play at Parque Constitución, a park at Avenida Hidalgo and Calle Aldama.