MUECA Festival Puerto de la Cruz 2026: programme, venues, map and tips
MUECA returns to Puerto de la Cruz from 7 to 10 May 2026 with a large street arts programme spread across the old town, San Telmo, Martiánez and several named festival spaces. This guide is built first around the confirmed programme and practical festival details, then moves into visitor planning further down the page.
The 2026 edition includes street theatre, clown, contemporary circus, movement, music, spoken-word work, installations, creative spaces and itinerant performances. Some shows repeat across multiple days and different areas of Puerto de la Cruz, so the easiest way to use this page is to start with the day-by-day schedule, then move to the map, featured shows and planning sections.
If you are deciding whether MUECA is worth fitting into your Puerto de la Cruz trip, this is one of the town’s most distinctive cultural weekends of the year. It turns the streets into the venue rather than keeping everything inside one theatre or fenced festival ground.
Contents
- Confirmed dates and programme overview
- Thursday 7 May 2026
- Friday 8 May 2026
- Saturday 9 May 2026 morning
- Saturday 9 May 2026 afternoon
- Sunday 10 May 2026
- Main festival spaces and map
- Featured shows and highlights
- Accessibility and practical festival info
- Visitor planning and official updates
- Frequently asked questions
Confirmed dates and programme overview
MUECA 2026 runs from Thursday 7 May to Sunday 10 May 2026 in Puerto de la Cruz. The programme is organised around several named spaces, itinerant performances and creative areas, with a lighter opening day on Thursday and a much fuller schedule on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
The broad structure is:
- Thursday 7 May — opening activity with creative spaces and a main evening performance.
- Friday 8 May — the first full festival day, moving from daytime creative spaces into a heavy afternoon and evening schedule.
- Saturday 9 May — the busiest day, naturally split into morning and afternoon/evening blocks.
- Sunday 10 May — the closing day, focused on daytime performances.
The programme also states that changes may happen for reasons beyond the organisers’ control, so it is sensible to check the official festival channels again closer to the weekend if you are planning around one specific show.
Thursday 7 May 2026
Thursday is the opening day and is much lighter than the rest of the festival. It is a good option if you want a first look at MUECA without trying to follow the much busier Friday and Saturday schedule.
- 17:00–22:00 — Muecas de Mueca, exterior Museo Arqueológico.
- 17:00–22:00 — Urban Mueca, Plaza de la Iglesia.
- 21:00–22:10 — Otto Stragman by Abubukaka, Espacio Penitente.
For anyone arriving in Puerto de la Cruz before the main weekend, Thursday is a good moment to get familiar with the layout of the festival spaces and the rhythm of the event.
Friday 8 May 2026
Friday is the first full day of MUECA 2026 and already covers a wide spread of formats, from itinerant music and movement to clown, theatre, circus, spoken-word work and larger public performances.
Recurring all-day elements include:
- 11:00–22:00 — Muecas de Mueca, exterior Museo Arqueológico.
- 11:00–22:00 — Urban Mueca, Plaza de la Iglesia.
Key Friday performances include:
- 16:30 — La máquina de música, itinerant.
- 17:00 — Suhde, Kontrol, Katastrofa Show, Show de Tadeo and Llar.
- 18:00 — Precaución, obra en construcción, Arrived, Antes del nombre and music interventions including Alizulh.
- 19:00 — Mute, L’approche infinie, El peor espectáculo del mundo, de momento and a second performance of Otto Stragman.
- 20:00 — Nombrar(me), Andábamos maravillados, Flüa and Caricatos.
- 21:00 — Piti Peta Hofen Show, Old Line, Wolf and El bar nuestro de cada dÃa.
Friday is already strong enough to build a visit around, but it is best approached by choosing a few spaces or a few styles of performance rather than trying to cross the entire programme map.
Saturday 9 May 2026 morning
Saturday morning opens the busiest day of the festival and mixes installations, family-friendly work, itinerant pieces, music interventions and movement performances.
- 11:00–22:00 — Muecas de Mueca, exterior Museo Arqueológico.
- 11:00–22:00 — Urban Mueca, Plaza de la Iglesia.
- 11:00–14:00 — La otra vida de las cosas, Espacio Nicko Valoriza.
- 11:00 — La máquina de música, Estación Musical and Flüa.
- 12:00 — Nombrar(me), Kontrol, Show de Tadeo, Llar, Antes del nombre, Caricatos, Las Cuatro Estaciones and Arrived.
- 13:00 — La máquina de música, Alizulh, Teranga, Mute, L’approche infinie, El Rey Zolito and Taller: Danzando con las palabras.
This is one of the best programme blocks for families, creative daytime wandering and visitors who want a more relaxed MUECA experience before the stronger evening schedule begins.
Saturday 9 May 2026 afternoon
Saturday afternoon and night are among the strongest festival hours of the whole weekend, with a broad mix of theatre, movement, music, clown and headline-style public performances.
- 16:00 — ¿Y si esta fuera la última vez?, Espacio Aduana.
- 16:30 — La máquina de música, itinerant.
- 17:00 — Constelación, Suhde, Kontrol, Katastrofa Show, Show de Tadeo, Llar and Las Cuatro Estaciones.
- 18:00 — Retornar sin retorno, Precaución, obra en construcción, TAL!!!, Antes del nombre and Arrived.
- 19:00 — Mute, L’approche infinie, El peor espectáculo del mundo, de momento and Otto Stragman.
- 20:00 — Selva, Kontrol, La máquina de música, SofÃa Pérez & MararÃa González, 163 centÃmetros and Caricatos.
- 21:00 — Piti Peta Hofen Show, Dorian, Old Line, Wolf and El bar nuestro de cada dÃa.
If you only have one full period to experience MUECA, Saturday afternoon and evening are the obvious choice. It is the most complete snapshot of what the festival feels like at full scale.
Sunday 10 May 2026
Sunday is the closing day and works as a daytime programme rather than a late-night finish, which makes it a good choice for visitors who want to experience MUECA without the heavier Saturday crowd rhythm.
- 11:00–14:00 — Muecas de Mueca, exterior Museo Arqueológico.
- 11:00–14:00 — Urban Mueca, Plaza de la Iglesia.
- 11:00–14:00 — La otra vida de las cosas, Espacio Nicko Valoriza.
- 11:00 — Guachinche 122 - La sobremesa sonora, Ephimera and SofÃa Pérez & MararÃa González.
- 12:00 — Migrant, Suhde, Kontrol, La máquina de música, Antes del nombre and Arrived.
- 13:00 — Cuaderno de campo, legado de una obra, Música en vivo a flor de piel, La máquina de música, TAL!!!, Teranga, Wolf, Katastrofa Show and Rebambaramba, el retorno.
Sunday is especially good if you want a more relaxed closing-day experience built around music, movement and public performance in daylight.
Main festival spaces and map
MUECA 2026 is spread across a network of named spaces in Puerto de la Cruz rather than a single enclosed venue. The programme map identifies the main places as Plaza de la Iglesia, Museo Arqueológico, Espacio Nicko Valoriza, Espacio Toti Aqualia, Espacio Plaza Concejil, Espacio Aduana, Espacio Penitente, Espacio Lago Martiánez, Espacio Playa Martiánez, Playa San Telmo and Lido San Telmo.
The map also identifies specific music points and itineraries, including calle Esquivel, calle La Hoya, calle Maretas, calle Mequinez and the corner of calle Quintana with calle AgustÃn de Betancourt. These matter because several performances move through town rather than staying fixed in one place.
The practical takeaway is simple: MUECA is best understood as a walkable festival network through Puerto de la Cruz, not as a single-stage event.
Featured shows and highlights
The full programme is large, so these are some of the clearest standout picks if you want to prioritise your time.
Big headline and widely recognisable picks
- Abubukaka — Otto Stragman: a fast, satirical Canarian comedy with a +12 age recommendation.
- Yoann Bourgeois — L’approche infinie: one of the visually strongest movement and circus names in the programme.
- Circa — Wolf: a major contemporary circus production from Australia.
- Chipi La Canalla — El bar nuestro de cada dÃa: a 90-minute performance with a +12 recommendation.
Strong family-friendly and all-ages options
- Guixot de 8 — La otra vida de las cosas
- Show de Tadeo
- Katastrofa Show
- Kontrol
- El Rey Zolito
- Rebambaramba, el retorno
Movement, dance and physical performance
- Nombrar(me)
- Selva
- Migrant
- Constelación
- Retornar sin retorno
- Ephimera
Music-focused picks
- La máquina de música
- Flüa
- Alizulh
- TAL!!!
- SofÃa Pérez & MararÃa González
- Old Line
- Estaciones Musicales
- Guachinche 122 - La sobremesa sonora
Word, theatre and reflective work
- Andábamos maravillados
- 163 centÃmetros
- Antes del nombre
- Teranga
- ¿Y si esta fuera la última vez?
Accessibility and practical festival info
MUECA 2026 includes an expanded accessibility approach. The programme highlights a Punto Naranja outside the Casa de la Aduana for information, accompaniment and specialist support, alongside vibrating backpacks, adapted signage with pictograms, sign language for selected shows, accessible video resources and a magnetic loop system.
The programme also notes that some shows are marked as accessible and that accessibility supports can be requested in advance. This is one of the practical details worth checking on the official channels again close to the festival if accessibility planning matters for your visit.
The information point schedule published in the programme runs from Wednesday 29 April to Sunday 10 May, generally from 10:00 to 14:00 and 16:00 to 22:00, with specific adjustments on some dates and continuous service during the festival days.
The programme also includes a pet-friendly note for selected attendance and references booking pet-friendly seats through the ticketing platform.
Visitor planning and official updates
MUECA works best when you plan by zone, by day or by type of performance. If you want a lighter introduction, Thursday is the easiest entry point. If you want the most complete one-day experience, Saturday is the strongest. If you prefer a calmer, mostly daytime version of the festival, Sunday is the easiest closing-day option.
Because MUECA is spread around central Puerto de la Cruz, walking is usually the easiest way to experience it. It also helps to pick a cluster of nearby spaces rather than trying to cross the whole festival map between every performance.
The programme encourages public transport, shared cars, cycling where appropriate, recycling points and use of public toilets near the main stages. It also highlights taxi access in Puerto de la Cruz for moving between accommodation, parking areas and the festival.
For official updates and last-minute changes, check here before you go:
If your visit depends on one specific performance, it is worth checking again close to the festival because live programme changes are always possible.
Frequently asked questions
When is MUECA 2026 in Puerto de la Cruz?
MUECA 2026 runs from Thursday 7 May to Sunday 10 May 2026.
Is the festival all in one venue?
No. MUECA is spread across several named spaces in Puerto de la Cruz, including Plaza de la Iglesia, Museo Arqueológico, San Telmo, Martiánez, Casa de la Aduana and other mapped festival points.
Which is the busiest day?
Saturday 9 May is the busiest and broadest day of the festival, especially across the afternoon and evening schedule.
Are there family-friendly performances?
Yes. The programme includes several all-ages or general-audience options, especially in the daytime blocks, the creative areas and a number of public clown and family-oriented shows.
Does MUECA include accessibility measures?
Yes. The 2026 programme includes accessibility supports such as Punto Naranja, adapted signage, sign language in selected performances, vibrating backpacks and other measures.
Can the programme change?
Yes. The programme itself states that changes may happen for reasons outside the organisers’ control.
