If you only visited Baja California Sur in May, you would think it was obsessed with jazz: several of the state’s foremost tourism destinations — including La Paz, San José del Cabo, and Todos Santos — feature performance-based jazz events during the month.
The occasion for these events is the International Jazz Festival to accompany the Uneaco-sponsored International Jazz Day. Beyond listening enjoyment, the UN agency proclaimed International Jazz Day in 2011 to unify people worldwide. Neither La Paz nor Todos Santos is technically in Los Cabos— they’re in the municipality of La Paz.
However, one of the joys of visiting Los Cabos is accessibility to multiple destinations within easy driving distance; one hour to Todos Santos from Cabo San Lucas, two hours to La Paz.
Baja Jazz 2025 at El Mirador
It’s hard to imagine a more laid-back setting than El Mirador Ocean View Restaurant in Todos Santos, site of Baja Jazz 2025. Monterrey native Tito Rodríguez headlines the event, joined by several other performers, including Soul Sisters, Sonny Step and the Blessing Trio.
Dates: May 1
Location: El Mirador, Camino a El Mirador Restaurant, Rafael Pedrajo 1, Todos Santos
Cost: 500 pesos
Drink-Oh de Mayo at El Squid Roe
Cinco de Mayo is more popular in the United States than in Mexico. But this celebration of Mexico’s victory over the French in the 1862 Battle of Puebla is used, like virtually everything else in Cabo San Lucas, as an excuse to party. Hence Drink-Oh de Mayo at El Squid Roe, a boozy DJ-enhanced event at one of the Land’s End city’s signature bars that arrives three days early.
Dates: May 2
Location: El Squid Roe, Blvd. Lázaro Cárdenas 1112, Cabo San Lucas
Cost: $103 for a 3-hour open bar
La Paz celebrates its 490th anniversary
La Paz, the capital of Baja California Sur, dates its founding as a city to May 3, 1535, the day Hernán Cortés and his crew first came ashore on the peninsula. Every year, the city’s Fiestas de Fundacion honor this momentous occasion in regional history with a reenactment and many other events, including the crowning of Queen Calafia. These festivities are mostly centered along the Malecón boardwalk.
Dates: May 3
Location: Paseo Álvaro Obregón, Zona Centro, La Paz
Cost: Free admission
Los Cabos Cortés Open 2025
Swimming conditions don’t get any better than in the water off Playa Palmilla, which explains why this cove is the site of the swimming portion of the annual Ironman 70.3 half triathlon in October and the Cortés Open. The latter features four different race distances — 1.3, 3, 5 and 7 kilometers — and welcomes swimmers of all ages and skill levels.
Dates: May 3
Location: Playa Palmilla, Carretera Transpeninsular Km 27.5, Los Cabos Tourist Corridor
Cost: 1,250 to 2,400 pesos, depending on race distance
Festival de Jazz La Paz
The La Paz-based celebration of International Jazz Day welcomes Victor Patrón, Douglas Webb, Sonia Steves and local performers for free concerts on the city’s scenic seaside Malecón.
Dates: May 4
Location: Malecón in La Paz
Cost: Free admission
Viva El Gonzo
The name of boutique San José del Cabo hotel El Ganzo is a portmanteau that combines gonzo, the outrageous art style pioneered by writer Hunter S. Thompson, and “ganso,” the Spanish word for goose. This three-day music festival embraces the gonzo element and features Goose, The War on Drugs, Tycho, Dawes and more than a dozen other artists and performers.
Dates: May 8 – 10
Location: Hotel El Ganzo, Boulevard Tiburon s/n La Playa, San José del Cabo
Cost: US $188 for general admission tickets
Día de las Madres
The date is the main difference between Mother’s Day in the U.S. and Mexico. In the U.S., mothers are honored on the second Sunday in May. In Mexico, the date remains the same each year: May 10. However, as elsewhere, it’s an occasion to celebrate moms for all they do, with many restaurants offering special deals and menus. The Monumento a las Madres in Miraflores, a statue built in 1927 at the behest of local children, was one of the first of its kind in Mexico.
Dates: May 10
Location: Celebrated throughout Los Cabos
Cost: Check individual restaurants for deals and discounts
11th San José Jazz Weekend
Originally held in February to coincide with Valentine’s Day, post-pandemic, this highly anticipated free local event is now a May fixture. However, as before, the festival dedicated to the New Orleans-created, world-embraced musical style draws 5,000 or more spectators to the Plaza del Pescador in San José del Cabo. Featured artists this year include the Los Cabos Big Band, the David Cantoni Quinteto, and T’orus.
Dates: May 23 – 24
Location: Plaza del Pescador, Zona Hotelera, San José del Cabo
Cost: Free admission
8th Annual Paellas Festival
Organized by the Los Cabos Rotary Club and Los Cabos Hotel Association to raise money for local educational programs, this event also notably pleases local palates courtesy of paella entries from several of the area’s top hotel chefs.
Dates: May 24
Location: Hilton Los Cabos Beach & Golf Resort, Carretera Transpeninsular Km 19.5, Los Cabos Tourist Corridor
Cost: 1,300 pesos
Maki Fest Los Cabos 2025
The dish of choice for this culinary competition pitting top chefs against one another is maki sushi rolls. Fifteen of the best local chefs will compete for the top prize, with the real winners being those who show up to do the sampling. Live music is featured, including a performance from American saxophonist Scott Page.
Date: May 31
Location: Petunia’s Venue, Vía de Carlos L 601, Carretera Transpeninsular Km 3.7, Cabo San Lucas
Cost: From 1,567 pesos
Chris Sands is the Cabo San Lucas local expert for the USA Today travel website 10 Best, writer of Fodor’s Los Cabos travel guidebook and a contributor to numerous websites and publications, including Tasting Table, Marriott Bonvoy Traveler, Forbes Travel Guide, Porthole Cruise, Cabo Living and Mexico News Daily. His specialty is travel-related content and lifestyle features focused on food, wine and golf.
