Arena Ciudad de México

In 2012 this building was inaugurated with a capacity for 22,000 comfortably seated spectators. The design is the work of the firm KMD Architects. It is a space with the most advanced technology to perform concerts, sports events, plays, private events, cultural activities and conventions; it has a parking lot, luxury suites, two heliports and over a thousand screens.

It is located north of the city, in Azcapotzalco, just a few minutes from Polanco.

Check the calendar of events

What the venue is like. It is a column-free oval bowl, so there are no obstructed-view seats —the weak point of the city's older venues. It has climate control, an LED facade programmed for each event, and three levels of suites. Alongside concerts it hosts basketball league games, sports exhibitions, family shows and corporate events.

Getting there. It stands at Avenida de las Granjas 800, colonia Santa Bárbara, in Azcapotzalco, and it has an advantage rare for a venue this size: Ferrería/Arena Ciudad de México station on metro Line 6 is just across the avenue, and Fortuna station on the suburban train is a short walk too. RTP buses run along Eje 4 Norte. Driving, there are free car parks at the base of the arena, but Granjas clogs up in the hour before each show.

Event-day advice. Allow an extra hour: pedestrian entry goes through metal-detector arches and barcode scanning is strict, so queues move slowly when twenty-two thousand people arrive at once. Keep your ticket on your phone at full brightness or print it, check which gate you need before you set out, and if you leave the moment the show ends, expect a bottleneck — it is worth waiting a few minutes, or taking the metro, which usually clears faster than the car park.