The Narco Blog

Too Dangerous After Dark: Mazatlán’s Business Chamber Cancels Its 41st Expo Feria, Which Expected 100,000 Visitors — the Mayor Insists the City Can Host Big Events

By The Narco Blog · October 15, 2026 · Updated October 15, 2026

Clear plastic cups placed on asphalt as evidence markers beside a parked bus at a crime scene — Plastic cups mark evidence beside a bus at a crime scene, in an archive photo Uno TV used to illustrate the violence in Mazatlán. This photo is not from the Expo Feria announcement. Photo: Cuartoscuro / Archivo, via Uno TV.

Mazatlán’s business chamber has called off the 41st Expo Feria Canaco, a fall fair that has run for about 40 years and was expected to draw more than 100,000 visitors to the Sinaloa beach city. Francisca de los Ángeles Cázarez Oliveros, president of Canaco-Servytur Mazatlán, announced the decision at a press conference on Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2026, citing insecurity in the municipality, Luz Noticias and MVS Noticias reported. The fair had been set for Nov. 12 to Dec. 6.

Stands sold, money spent

Preparations were well along. Proyecto Puente reported that 80% of the commercial spaces had been sold, that demand for the food area was 150% of its capacity, and that about 1 million pesos had already been spent. “Es una situación difícil, dolorosa y profundamente analizada” (“It is a difficult, painful and deeply analyzed situation”), Cázarez said, according to Luz Noticias.

Revista Espejo and Uno TV reported that the chamber’s main worry was that people now move around less at night, with families changing their routines and some businesses cutting their hours. Proyecto Puente said the chamber called the cancellation a pause, not the end of the fair, and hopes to bring it back in 2027.

The mayor says the city is ready

Mayor Estrella Palacios Domínguez disagreed. “En Mazatlán existen condiciones para hacer eventos masivos” (“Mazatlán has the conditions to hold mass events”), she said, according to Revista Espejo. She pointed to the city marathon, the Copa Mazatlán soccer tournament and the Ciclotour, which are still on. She said the decision was the chamber’s, admitted there had been no prior talks, and offered support if organizers change their minds. Martha Reyes Zazueta, president of employers’ group Coparmex Sinaloa, called the mayor’s remarks insensitive, Uno TV reported. She said businesses are closing and that the problem is moving safely around the city, not police at venues.

A second fair lost this year

Revista Espejo reported that the Expo Feria Ganadera Mazatlán, a livestock fair, was also cancelled, in early May. It cited unofficial counts of 73 homicides in Mazatlán in August, 65 in September and 67 so far in October, seven of them femicides, despite about 10,000 security personnel deployed. Our earlier coverage has tracked that violence as part of the war inside the Sinaloa Cartel. For travelers, see our Mazatlán safety guide.

Sources

Reported Oct. 15, 2026, from the sources above. Homicide figures are unofficial counts cited by Revista Espejo, not official statistics. The Narco Blog did not attend the press conference and has not independently confirmed the chamber’s figures.