The Pink Carpet and “Ellas Cantan” Tribute Dinner at Apapaxoa 2026

As part of Apapaxoa Festival GastroCultural Xcaret 2026, Colors Edition, guest chefs, traditional cooks, and members of Xcaret’s culinary collective gathered at Hotel Xcaret Arte to celebrate one of the most meaningful evenings of this edition: the Pink Carpet, which brought together some of the most recognized divs in international gastronomy, followed by a Gala Dinner honoring the career of chef Dominique Crenn.

The evening was also a statement of what Apapaxoa stands for: celebrating gastronomy not only for what happens in the kitchen, but for the stories, cultures, techniques, and people that give it meaning.

A Pink Carpet for Connection

Before the cameras began rolling, the guest chefs and members of Xcaret’s culinary collective took part in a Handshake curated by Erick van Deek, a gathering designed to break the ice, spark conversation, and recognize the connections that make this culinary community possible.

Then came the Pink Carpet.

Among those who walked the carpet were renowned chefs such as Dominique Crenn, Lula Martín del Campo, Jonatan Gómez Luna, Gabriela Ruiz, Karime López, Paco Méndez, and many other divs invited to this edition of Apapaxoa. The gathering brought together chefs who have built their careers on some of the world’s most important culinary stages.

They were joined by some of the 32 traditional cooks taking part in the festival, including Victoria González, María Petrona Alvarado, Araceli Márquez, Minerva Carrillo, Marcela Santillán, Rosalba Morales, and Luz del Carmen Gómez Franco.

Their presence brought another dimension to the evening. Because in Mexico, talking about gastronomy also means talking about memory: recipes passed down through generations, ingredients that tell stories of place, and knowledge that survives because someone chose to keep cooking it.

The Pink Carpet thus brought together different ways of understanding cuisine. Fine dining and traditional cooking shared the same space, not as opposing expressions, but as part of the same conversation.

“Ellas Cantan”: Seven Colors to Tell a Culinary Journey | Gala Dinner

After the Pink Carpet came one of the evening’s central moments: the “Ellas Cantan” Gala Dinner, created to honor the career of chef Dominique Crenn, one of the most influential divs in contemporary gastronomy.

The tribute took its inspiration from the concept behind this edition of Apapaxoa: 7 Colors.

The dinner featured seven courses, each associated with a color and conceived by different female chefs. More than a chromatic sequence, the colors became a language: different ways of interpreting the creativity, identity, and sensibility behind a cuisine.

—White, by Lula Martín del Campo
—Green, by Sheyla Alvarado
—Yellow, by Karime López
—Red, by Gaby Ruiz
—Pink, by Mariana Valencia and Martha Ortiz
—Black, by Fernanda Prado and Maribel Aldeco
—Colors, by Mao Montiel

A Tribute That Goes Beyond Dinner

Honoring Dominique Crenn’s career at Apapaxoa carried a special meaning.

Her career represents a way of understanding cuisine as a creative language capable of communicating identity, memory, emotion, and an individual point of view. For that reason, “Ellas Cantan” was more than a tribute dinner: it was a conversation built through many voices.

Seven colors. Different chefs. One career as a point of connection.

And behind it all, an idea that runs through Apapaxoa: gastronomy can also be a form of culture, expression, and connection.

Apapaxoa 2026 Has Only Just Begun

The Pink Carpet and “Ellas Cantan” Gala Dinner are only the beginning of Apapaxoa Festival GastroCultural Xcaret 2026, Colors Edition.

Over the following days, the festival will continue to expand this conversation into other realms of creativity and knowledge.

“Relatos con sabor” will bring chefs and guest speakers together to share ideas, experiences, and knowledge with the audience.

The Workshops will offer opportunities to explore traditions and cultural expressions through different artistic disciplines, while the temporary exhibitions, developed as part of Hotel Xcaret Arte’s Arts Promotion Program, will bring new perspectives to the gathering.

The Book Fair will feature author talks and book signings, expanding the culinary conversation toward the stories and knowledge that are also created beyond the kitchen.

And, of course, the inspiring breakfasts and special dinners at Xcaret Hotels’ restaurants will continue, alongside happenings and performances throughout the festival program.

Because Apapaxoa does not happen only around a table. It happens when a recipe becomes memory, when an ingredient speaks of a place, when a work of art finds another way to tell a story, and when different voices come together to imagine what comes next.

In this edition, those voices come in many colors.