Guanajuato

Organisers call it the largest cultural festival in Latin America. 

The 33rd Festival will take place from 5 – 23 October 2005.

The programme

Some 2,500 artists will converge from all over the world to perform in recitals, concerts, plays, ballet, contemporary dance and opera in the city’s wonderful colonial buildings and plazas (especially the gilded Teatro Juárez). There are also many art exhibitions.

33rd Festival programme

Download programme 

History

The Festival has been held in Guanajuato every October since 1972 as a homage to the Spanish writer Miguel de Cervantes (who wrote Don Quixote). More history.

2005 marks the 400th anniversary of Don Quixote

The importance of the Festival was underlined in April 2004 when it received the Max Spanish American Prize for Scenic Arts, awarded by the General Society of Authors and Editors of Spain.

Special invitation

Although a celebration of world culture, the festival organisers historically give special recognition to one particular region of the world and one in Mexico.

In 2003, France, Germany and the central Mexican state of Michoacan received special invitations. Last year, it was the turn of South Africa and the state of Baja California .

This year, Japan and the state of Yucatán will have prominence

The UK has been invited to participate in 2006.

VISITING?

Location

The festival celebration takes place in and around the World Heritage City of Guanajuato in Central Mexico.

Tickets

All tickets can be arranged in advance through Ticketmaster Mexico (+52 (55) 5325-9000) or through their website.

In Guanajuato, tickets are also available from the main ticket office located on the south side of the Teatro Juárez from mid-August.

As many as 50,000 tickets go on sale a few days before the festival starts.

The most expensive tickets (for a performance in the Teatro Juárez, for example) can cost $250 pesos. The cheapest costs about $15 pesos.

Tip

The Festival attracts around 150,000 visitors annually. Book accommodation as early as possible. 

On Saturday, Kelly Hart ventured onto the busy Guanajuato streets with his digital camera. After a while he sat down on a bench near the mercado. Balancing the camera on his lap, he tilted the mirror from a small vanity case at a 45-degree angle to reflect the LCD screen image. Although upside down, he could at least check that the image was more or less framed properly. Some 75 clicks later, Kelly went back home to play with the results. Fifteen of the pictures ended up in this time-lapse Guanajuato street animation. Select the slideshow view (you can control the transition speed).

Individually, they are unremarkable. Just a continuous silent procession of passers-by ‘caught’ going about their business. But the best ‘street’ photographs tell some kind of story, and through their fleeting ‘ordinariness’, I think these do. Many of the vital components of street life are present: the main characters are a pair of dreamy-looking ‘Toy Story’ [?] piñatas – but there’s plenty of street chatter, passing buses, a delivery of 5 gallon garrafon jugs of purified water, a fresh-fruit stand, a woman damping down dust from the sidewalk, an ever-present and seemingly abandoned huddle of gas cylinders…

In its print version today, The Guardian featured this AP/Mario Armas photo of air balloons in flight during the Third International Air Balloon Festival in Guanajuato.

The 32nd Festival Cervantino opens in Guanajuato and other locations in central Mexico today.

This is the poster chosen by a jury to represent this year’s festival and attract a more youthful audience. It depicts a tradition-breaking modern-pseudo-Cervantes (after whom the festival is named) stripped to the waist with fetching tattoos and body-piercings. It was labelled ‘immoral’ and banned by the conservative PAN-led Guanajuato State Legislature. Creators Lourdes and Luis Almeida picked up a lot of free publicity and their 50,000 pesos (about $4,500 US dollars) prize money.

Until 24 October. At venues around the city; for a full listing visit the festival’s website. For tickets call Ticketmaster: +52 (55) 5325-9000 or visit their website.

Something like 2,500 artists from nearly 40 countries will perform at the 32nd Festival Cervantino, which will be held in Guanajuato and other locations in central Mexico from 6-24 October.

The programme, featuring performances by global artists from the fields of music, opera, theatre, dance, cinema and literature has been posted on the official Festival website. This year, it is the turn of South Africa and the state of Baja California to receive special invitations.

The importance of the Festival was underlined last April when it received the Max Spanish American Prize for Scenic Arts, awarded by the General Society of Authors and Editors of Spain.

Photo credit: Festival Cervantino – 2003 © Jonathan Clark. Published with permission