484th La Paz Foundation Festival

May 3 – 5th:  Although the first European to set foot on the Baja California peninsula was mutineer Fortún Ximénez – who arrived with ill-tempered crew sometime in late 1533 – the residents of La Paz celebrate the day his superior, conquistador par excellence Hernán Cortés, came ashore a year and a half later. That date, May 3, 1535 has been enshrined as the official foundation of La Paz, even though Cortés himself called the place Santa Cruz. This anniversary is remembered with an annual festival in Baja California Sur’s capital city featuring activities and concerts, as well as a traditional reenactment of the first landing of the Spaniards. For more information, email [email protected].