Live Entertainment Abounds in Gay Puerto Vallarta

Over four dozen bars, a gay-friendly beach, spectacular swimming pools and impressive restaurants—all within walking distance—make for a great LGBTQ+ destination and Puerto Vallarta scores high points when it comes to all these features. But what about live entertainment? For returning visitors, you’ll be happy to know that the venues and entertainment choices you’ve come to love are still here, featuring shows you may be already familiar with along with the arrival of new performers each year. If you are scheduling your first trip, you will be happy to know that there is some overlap here with other popular LGBTQ+ destinations you may have visited in the past. Let’s break it down.

Let’s start with great news: about all the live entertainment you’ll wish to pursue in town is located within walking distance in Emiliano Zapata, the neighborhood where all the aforementioned bars, beaches, pools and restaurants can be found. There are six or-so venues in the ‘hood, from bars with performance spaces to small theaters, which attract audiences on a nightly basis, sometimes offering different shows on any given evening.

For the longest time, Puerto Vallarta has been a magnet for drag performances and this is very much the case today. An increasing number of Drag Race alumni are now making stops here and raising the bar for other drag queens, resulting in better, more entertaining shows.

If cabaret singers are your thing, you’d be amazed at how well the New York cabaret scene is represented here, thanks to seasonal performers such as the talented pianist Mark Hartman who has a great nose and ear for vocalists with Broadway credits that are likely to succeed here. And venues are casual enough that it’s easy to interact with the performers after their shows, or bump into them at the beach the day after. At least one venue—Act II—stages entire musicals, and whether you’ll enjoy these productions will depend on where you are visiting from, and the entertainment offerings in your own hometown.

Slowly but surely, a new type of entertainment is taking root in Puerto Vallarta: comedy shows. In the last few months, a couple of improv comedy troupes have made stops in town with moderate success, but the trend seems to be catching on, and it’s nice to have a broader variety of choices. And while we’ve had our choice of stripper clubs for years, a couple of more sophisticated male burlesque shows are now available throughout most of the year.

Will you be exposed to a lot of local talent? Yes and no. As a tourist destination, Puerto Vallarta is dedicated to welcoming you with an environment as familiar as possible to help you settle in comfortably. This translates into a large number of local performers invested in music from north of the border—there is no shortage of ‘tribute’ shows. To enjoy traditional Mexican performances (mariachi and other types of folkloric music, for example) you may have to leave the comfort of the gayborhood and explore a few restaurants that feature this type of entertainment.

And speaking of entertainment, Puerto Vallarta celebrates Gay pride in May and not in June as is the case in many other places around the globe. A full schedule of events has not been announced yet, but many of the large circuit parties are already announced on eventbrite.com and on Facebook’s own events calendar. As usual, Gay Pride in Puerto Vallarta will feature a number of parties for men and women along with the now traditional Pulpito Drag Derby, in which Pulpito St. transforms into a drag racetrack in which queens in heels have to complete a number of funny tasks in a hurry to win fabulous prizes.

Catch up with Paco Ojeda live Monday – Saturday at 10:30 am local time, on his talk show, “Coffee & Headlines,” where he shares headlines and stories for Puerto Vallarta’s local English-speaking community. facebook.com/pacoojedalive