13 Best Performing Arts in Guatemala

Antigua Tours' Elizabeth Bell presents a slide show called "Antigua: Behind the Walls" each Tuesday evening at 6 pm at the Centro Cultural El Sitio. She has assembled her vast collection of images during her almost four decades in Antigua. Admission is Q30, and proceeds go to buy textbooks for area elementary schools. During the six weeks of Lent, Bell also presents a slide show devoted to Antigua's Semana Santa processions at the same place. Advance reservations are required.

As Spain is Guatemala's mother country, its Centro Cultural de España keeps up an active Spanish-language calendar of music, art, theater, and lectures, with something going on several nights a week.

The city's most active cultural venue is the Centro Cultural El Sitio, which presents concerts, films, and lectures (almost always in Spanish) several nights a week.

The city's cultural venue par excellence, the Centro Cultural Miguel Ángel Asturias has an active program of music, dance, and theater presentations by national and international groups. Most large shows are held at its Teatro Nacional; other presentations take place at the complex's smaller theaters.

Enjoy a coffee, log on with your laptop, and enjoy the occasional movie night at Cinema Coffee Shop.

Cinema Paraíso is a small café that screens artsy films.

Cubatenango screens Latin American films on DVD each Tuesday and Thursday at 7 pm, and serves two-for-one Cuba Libres (rum and cokes) each evening from 6 to 8 pm.

We like cozy El Cuartito for its coffee and veggie snacks. It has an outdoor patio, but the inside is a lot warmer. Tuesday's "Alternative Film Night" gets underway at 7 pm.

Loosely affiliated with the U.S. embassy, the Instituto Guatemalteco Americano presents an active calendar of cultural offerings by Guatemalan and international groups.

La Cueva, in the Hotel Mezón Panza Verde, gets jazzy, bluesy, or Latin-y, Wednesday through Saturday nights.

The Mesón Panza Verde hotel and restaurant is known for its weekly Art Flicks and Dharma Flicks film series—most films are in English—as well as the occasional concert.

"The NGO Talk," a weekly lecture series in English with a political, humanitarian, or social bent on some topic related to Guatemala, gets underway on the patio at Rainbow each Tuesday evening at 5:30 pm. Come early. Seats fill up quickly, but don't be afraid to grab a chair at a partially occupied table. Admission is Q25, with proceeds going to a charitable cause.

The Buddha screens indie films many evenings (no fixed schedule) to the accompaniment of coffees and smoothies.