The
2007 Universal Forum of Cultures was an international cultural event held in Monterrey from September 20 to December 8, 2007.
Cuisine (kid goat) is Monterrey's most popular traditional dish The most traditional dish from Monterrey is
cabrito, kid goat cooked on embers. Other local dishes and customs that perhaps date back to the
Crypto-Judaism of Monterrey's founding families are the "semita" (bread without leavening), the
capirotada dessert (a mix of cooked bread, cheese, raisins, peanuts, and crystallized sugarcane juice), and the relative absence of pork dishes. Another famous local dish is
machacado con huevo.
Carne asada on weekends remains a tradition among Monterrey families. It is usually served with grilled onions, baked potatoes and
sausages or chopped as
tacos. Locally brewed beer and cola are an almost mandatory part of the weekly ritual. "Glorias" and "obleas", made from goat milk, are both traditional Nuevo León desserts. Monterrey has a wide gastronomic variety due to its climate geography, climate, texture, a mixture of ethnics groups, and their influences, a series of unique dishes have been created through more than 400 years of history.
Chinatown After the USMCA was ratified, an industrial
Chinatown with signs in both Spanish and Chinese formed in Monterrey to take advantage of tariff free trade with the United States given its proximity to
Texas.
Contemporary music Since the 1960s, Monterrey has been known for "Norteño" music. Monterrey has witnessed the birth of several bands that have become internationally acclaimed. Their genres vary considerably. Bands include
Plastilina Mosh,
Control Machete,
Kinky,
El Gran Silencio,
Celso Pina,
Jumbo,
Division Minuscula,
3Ball MTY, and
The Warning. The song "Los Oxidados" by Plastilina Mosh opened the 2005 movie
Mr. & Mrs. Smith.
Landmarks in
Bishop Slope artificial river over
Fundidora Park • The
Santa Lucía artificial river, built between 1996 and 2007. It currently joins the
Macroplaza with the
Fundidora Park. • The
Cerro de la Silla (Saddle Mountain). • The
Macroplaza,
the 8th largest city square in the world, is the cultural and administrative heart of the city featuring remarkable monuments, green areas and buildings. Its development was overseen by
Ángela Alessio Robles in the 1980s. •
Faro del Comercio (Lighthouse of Commerce), another trademark of the city. This monument beams a
green laser around the city at night. •
Barrio Antiguo (lit.
Old neighborhood or old town) is the historical urban center of the city of Monterrey. There are preserved houses from the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries. Nowadays bars, cafes, art galleries and restaurants can be found there. In November of every year the
Festival Cultural Barrio Antiguo takes place with national and international artists and performers. In recent years this festival has been replaced with the
Festival Internacional de Santa Lucia, which now takes place in September. •
The Museum of Modern Art is a post-modern Mexican architecture designed by
Ricardo Legorreta with the objective of creating different ambiances for artists and visitors from all around the world. • Monterrey's
Inukshuk is one of only a handful of authentic examples to be found outside Canada of these stone monuments from the high Arctic. The sculpture was created in situ by the Inuit artist
Bill Nasogaluak in 2007 and was a gift to the state of Nuevo León from the Canadian Chamber of Commerce and the Government of Canada. •
Fundidora Park is a large urban park that contains old foundry buildings, 120 hectares of natural ambiance, artificial lakes, playgrounds, alternative cinema (Cineteca), museum (Photo Collection, the State Plastic Arts Collection, Exhibits and Spaces), hotel, auditorium and convention center. •
Puente de la Unidad (sometimes called
Puente Atirantado) is a suspension bridge that crosses the Santa Catarina River and joins
San Pedro Garza García with Monterrey. • The
Alfa Planetarium is the first
IMAX dome built in Latin America and fourth in the world. •
The Government Palace of Nuevo León is a pink marble of Neoclassical architecture where the governor's office is located. • El
Cerro del Obispado (Bishopric Hill) which includes a public, scenic lookout called
Mirador del Obispado, a
Monumental flag and the museum inside the
Palacio del Obispado (the Bishopric Palace). •
ITESM, ITESM has two distinctive buildings CEDES which houses the administration of the ITESM nationwide system and the CETEC which houses the main computer classroom and other offices. •
Cuauhtémoc Moctezuma Brewery (Cervecería Cuauhtémoc Moctezuma), with its 19th-century buildings and where the national Baseball Hall of Fame (
Salón de la Fama) is located. • The
Cola de Caballo (Horse Tail) waterfall, on the mountains near the towns of Santiago and El Cercado, about south. • On the way to the Cola de Caballo waterfall (Carretera Nacional going to Ciudad Victoria, Tamaulipas), in Santiago, the Presa Rodrigo Gomez or "La Boca" ("La Boca" Dam) lays nested between green hills. • The Museum of Mexican History is the most representative and visited museum of the North of the Republic, fulfilling its purpose of spreading the historical content of the Mexican cultural heritage. • LABNL Lab Cultural Ciudadano is a citizen laboratory located in the center of the city. This public space of collective creation develops projects for the common benefit of local communities.
Media Monterrey is an important producer and broadcaster of media and entertainment in Mexico.
Grupo Multimedios operates 4 television channels in the city, and
XHAW-TDT is the
flagship of the near-national network
Canal 6, which also airs as a cable network in the United States. National broadcasting networks
Televisa and
Azteca have local stations for all of their major channels, along with the non-commercial broadcasters such as
Once and
Canal 22 networks. The state of Nuevo León and
UANL also maintain television stations.
Grupo Reforma, one of the most widely read news sources in Mexico originated in the city with the newspaper
El Norte.
Milenio Diario de Monterrey, published by
Grupo Multimedios, is another newspaper of high distribution, daily printing local editions in the most important Mexican cities. Other local newspapers include
El Porvenir,
El Horizonte, and
ABC. Northern Mexico's weekly business newspaper
Biznews is also headquartered in Monterrey. Monterrey also has
several radio stations broadcasting news, music, entertainment, and culture for the city. The main radio broadcasting groups are
Multimedios Radio, Grupo Radio Alegría and Nucleo Radio Monterrey.
Sports The city hosted 8 matches during the
1986 FIFA World Cup and will host matches during the
2026 FIFA World Cup. The
FINA World Junior Swimming Championships were held in Monterrey in the summer of 2008 at the University of Nuevo Leon (UANL), after the completion of a world-class and FINA-approved Aquatic Center. Also the city wanted to bid for the
2016 Summer Olympics, but the Mexican Olympic Committee refused to support it. Backed by a young people's movement, students of the universities of Monterrey formed the Monterrey 2014 Foundation with the purpose of hosting the
2014 Summer Youth Olympics. In 2009, the Mexican Olympic Committee gave the bid to
Guadalajara which later on withdrew the bid late January 2010. Monterrey was
bidding for the
2018 Summer Youth Olympics. Again, in February 2012, the
Mexican Olympic Committee chose
Guadalajara as a candidate for the
2018 Summer Youth Olympics, but was eliminated by the
International Olympic Committee to advance to the final round. Since then, the Foundation Monterrey Olympic City A.C., the new name of this group of young citizens, are working on a project bid for the
2023 Summer Youth Olympics and then apply for the
2028 Summer Olympics. Monterrey has two
football teams in the Mexican league. The
C.F. Monterrey, commonly known as the
Rayados del Monterrey, uses the
Estadio BBVA Bancomer, a facility sponsored by
BBVA Bancomer and other important businesses. The
Tigres UANL, owned by
CEMEX, host matches at
Estadio Universitario, on the main campus of the
UANL. Both teams are related to the city on the
derby, called
Clásico Regiomontano. During the match, most of the city watches in bars, clubs, and family homes. It was proposed to build a stadium for both teams, the "
Estadio Internacional Monterrey", but both teams rejected the idea. The project is still being promoted, but the UANL Tigres have yet to finish their stadium contract and the
Rayados just inaugurated a new stadium of their own. Club de Fútbol Monterrey recently opened a new stadium with a capacity of 50,000. It was scheduled to be finished by 2014, named "
Estadio de Fútbol Monterrey", but was inaugurated on August 2, 2015, in a match with
Benfica. Rayados won, 3–0. Before the inauguration, the name was changed to
Estadio BBVA Bancomer. It will remain the club's property for 50 years before becoming government property. In addition, two professional
indoor soccer teams were hosted in the past, the
Monterrey La Raza, members of the
Continental Indoor Soccer League and
World Indoor Soccer League and the
Monterrey Fury, members of the
Major Indoor Soccer League. The city was
awarded another franchise to begin play in the fall of 2007 in the
MISL. Baseball has a long history in the city, where it became the most popular sport during the early 20th century. Monterrey has been champion of the
Little League World Series three times (1957, 1958 and 1997), and has been host of
Major League Baseball games. The
Sultanes de Monterrey are a Mexican League baseball team in the Northern Division. They have won the national title several times. The team was formed May 20, 1939, as Carta Blanca (a local beer brand, owned by Cuauhtémoc Moctezuma Brewery which owned the team). The team was also known as the gray ghosts. Soon, they became one of the most important teams in the league, winning its first championship in 1943. The Sultanes play in the
Estadio de Béisbol Monterrey, the largest baseball stadium in Mexico. In 2003, the city unsuccessfully attempted to buy (and relocate to Monterrey) the
Montreal Expos franchise of
Major League Baseball. There are two professional basketball teams:
Fuerza Regia that plays in the national league,
Liga Nacional de Baloncesto Profesional, and the
Monterrey Venom that plays in the minor league
American Basketball Association. Fuerza Regia used to play at the
Monterrey Arena and now is doing this at Gimnasio Nuevo León while the Monterrey Poison plays at the gymnasium of the ITESM. The city has hosted the
Champ Car race in
Fundidora Park from 2001 to 2005 and hosted the
A1 Grand Prix of Nations in February 2006. In 2004, Monterrey hosted the
World Karate Federation Senior World Championships. In April 2004, Monterrey's
Arena Monterrey became the first city to host
WWE in Mexico. In 2007, Monterrey hosted the Women's
WTBA World Tenpin Bowling Championships. The city has two college
American football teams, the
Auténticos Tigres UANL and the
Borregos Salvajes (ITESM) that play in the National College League (
ONEFA). There is also a local children's league called AFAIM. People can also find golf, fishing, camping, and extreme-sports outdoors near the city (
bungee jumping at
Cola de Caballo,
rock-climbing, hiking, mountain bike). In particular there is international-level
rock-climbing places like la Huasteca,
Potrero Chico and many other canyons. Starting 2009 the
Monterrey Open has been held at Monterrey. It is a professional women's tennis tournament affiliated with the Women's Tennis Association (WTA), and is part of the International tournaments on the WTA Tour. The
Monterrey Open was also a golf tournament on the U.S.-based second tier professional
Nike Tour, later named the Nationwide Tour and the Korn Ferry Tour, from 1993 to 2001. It was played at the Club Campestre in
San Pedro Garza García, a suburb of Monterrey. In 2010, Monterrey hosted the
International Ice Hockey Federation World U18 Championship at the
Monterrey Ice Complex. Centauros Rugby Club Monterrey was founded in 2010 and is affiliated with the FMRU (Federacion Mexicana de Rugby). ==Notable people==