Merch for Mexican groups performing at the Festival Medieval de Elche

Planning merch for Mexican groups at the Festival Medieval de Elche

Venue

Historic quarter of Elche, streets and squares around the Basilica of Santa María, Alicante, Valencian Community, Spain

Currency and invoicing

MXN, CFDI 4.0 with pagos complement; Carta Porte 3.0 for the Mexico–Spain freight leg

Material language

Peninsular Spanish with bilingual Spanish–English version for international press; Catalan optional

The Festival Medieval de Elche has been, since 1990, one of the cultural highlights of the Levantine autumn and a unique showcase for the Misteri d'Elx, declared Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO. The spine of the programme is the extraordinary performances of the autumn cycle of the Misteri staged inside the Basilica of Santa María, supported by theatre, music, street parades, fire spectacles and a Medieval Market that takes over the area around the Basilica and La Glorieta. Mexican groups that travel across to take part usually arrive with a double agenda: their own slot in the international section of the festival and a presence in the Medieval Market as artisans or as a historical reenactment collective.

For a typical Mexican company — between ten and twenty performers plus a technical crew of three or four, plus the market allocation — the merch breaks down into three clearly differentiated lots. The first is the hall allocation: per-performance programmes with historical notes on the piece and the period being recreated, press sheets with cast biographies, and bilingual sheets for accredited international press. This line ships first from production and carries the most weight in the warehouse, because every performance carries its own print run and the Basilica is a protected venue with strict capacities and schedules.

The second lot is cast and crew allocation: heavyweight tees and hoodies carrying the group's coat of arms and the tour legend, sized for performers spending whole days in the historic quarter; cotton aprons and braces for the technical crew; compact totes for the invited artisans and workshop coordinators. These volumes usually travel as documented luggage with the production director, not as consolidated freight, because any delay at El Altet customs means performers without backup wardrobe for the dress rehearsal.

The third lot is relations: compact boxes for allied festival programmers, event producers closing the next season with you, and specialist critics covering the international section. This is the line where the merch becomes a working tool months after the performance: a well-staged box in the Basilica dressing room turns into a programming email next season. We go with FSC-certified paper for programmes and press kits, heavyweight card for invitations, and organic-cotton or lyocell-blend textiles for tour tees, plus ceramic and soapwork pieces from certified Mexican suppliers for the artisanal lot.

Mexican groups shipping to the Festival Medieval de Elche typically invoice the full order from Mexico under a definitive export scheme, with the customs broker filing the pedimento key before the shipment leaves, then closing with a CFDI 4.0 Egreso and a pagos complement in MXN. The Carta Porte 3.0 covers the international freight leg: when the consolidated shipment leaves from Toluca or AICM and is delivered to the European venue, the destination broker needs the XML for local clearance; when the company prefers to ship programmes from CDMX via international courier and the rest as documented luggage, we issue a separate CFDI per leg so each lot closes clean.

Production and tour logistics

Before starting production, confirm print runs per performance, programme paper weight, press-kit format and the named recipient at the festival venue or at your tour hotel. For material travelling with the cast, every piece must be packed in documented luggage with a packing list that clears customs unopened; the rest ships as consolidated freight with Carta Porte 3.0. The Basilica of Santa María should not be treated as an open parcel-delivery address, and a named concierge at your tour hotel is usually the best option for receiving sensitive material outside venue hours.

Frequently asked questions