Kick around a soccer ball with locals in Parque Metropolitano Guanguiltagua, South America’s
largest urban park. Hike through Quito’s lush mountainsides. Splash your way down the rapids of Quijos River on a whitewater rafting outing. Cheer on one of the city’s six professional football teams or witness the pageantry at a bullfight during the annual bullfighting festival.
Quito soaks up free contemporary art, live music, multimedia projections and street theatre by cutting-edge local and international artists at outdoor and cultural spaces citywide. The yearly Ecuador Street Art Festival is unmissable. Look out for fantastical circus feats too.
A good mix of independent Ecuadorian and international bands take to the stage at the annual and free QuitoFest in Parque Itchimbía. Expect diverse types of music, from hip-hop and punk to ska and hard rock.
The Zero Latitude Film Festival - named from its equatorial location in Quito - concentrates on shorts, student-film, animation, videos and feature-length films from across the Spanish-speaking world. Thought-provoking independent art-house films are screened at cinemas in Ecuador's capital.
Student marching bands, impressive baton twirlers and military bands take to the streets in Quito's Old Quarter on 31 October every year to celebrate the Ecuadorian Coat of Arms Day. Dancing and music make this a lively street party.
Top matadores (bullfighters) from Peru, Latin America and Spain compete in the annual Quito Bullfighting Fair in the Plaza de Toros bullring. The matador, picadors and other figures inside the bullring all wear elegant finery from the sport's golden age.
Accomplished dancers and choreographers from around the globe display their skills at Quito's annual International Women in Dance Festival. Catch performances in the Casa de la Cultura's National Theatre, the Historic Centre's squares and other venues citywide.
One of the unmissable celebrations during Easter Week in Quito is on Good Friday. There is a spectacular procession through the old city that charts the events of Christ's Passion, complete with effigies of Christ and the Virgin Mary.