Todos Santos Pages
2003 Art Festival

Official Schedule of Events (Spanish) Official Schedule of Events (English) Latin Film Festival Schedule (English) Immigration Requirements for Art Festival Participation Application for Art Festival Participation January 18, 2003 Application Update

(Contributed by Heriberto Parra and Nanette Hayles)
Careful planning and united efforts on all fronts means better organization for next year's 6th annual "Festival Del Arte 2003" , considered by some to be one of the most important festivals in this region. "We are finally learning to work together and understand each other's culture, taking the best of both worlds to celebrate the culture and people of Mexico." So here's a peek at what's happening so far.

Art Festival 2000

The past months have been filled with meetings by supporting institutions, committees and subcommittees collaborating with much enthusiasm, and good old hard work to make this festival the best possible. These groups include: The Patrons of the Theater Marquez de Leon, Cultural Center “Prof. Nestor Agundez”, Municipal Offices of Todos Santos, City Coordinator of Festivals of La Paz, National Advisory Board for Culture and Art, Autonomous University of Baja California Sur, International University of La Paz, Distributor Modelo of La Paz S.A. de C.V., Writers of Baja California Sur A.C., Schools of Todos Santos and Asociacion de Comerciantes Todosanteños A.C. (the new Todos Santos Business Association.)

Folkloric Dance 2002		Teatro Marquez de Leon		Inside Teatro

The festival will take place February 1 - 8 and will include the 57th anniversary inauguration of Todos Santos' theater, Marquez de Leon, named after one of Mexico's important historical figures. All future Art Festivals will be held during this historic time of year. This festival will feature important artists from the following disciplines: dance, theater, film, visual arts, literature and regional culinary arts, and crafts. Some of the individuals and groups scheduled to participate are:

MUSIC		We are fortunate to have Daniel Tuchmann - musician, producer, songwriter, and composer for motion picture and video. His rich career also includes being back up musician and soloist for some of the Latin America's top vocal artists such as Oscar Chavez and Amparo Ochoa. See official schedule for complete listings.
DANCE		We are privileged to have Lydia Romero Oliveria, primer ballerina, choreographer and Coordinator of Dance for the National Institute of Fine Arts. We will also have the ballet folklorico "Lol-Ixin of Merida, Yucatan and the ballet folklorico of "Quahuitl of Saltillo, Coahuila.
VISUAL ARTS		Artist and monument sculptor, Tina Allen will personally present and donate a bronze bust of Don Luis Donaldo Colosio Murieta. The bust will proudly become part of Todos Santos' permanent art collection. Mauro Gomez Vazquez, (painter, sculptor and pianist) and Franco Mendez Calvillo (painter and pianist), both highly recognized national and international fine artists, will be present. There will also be exhibitions of Poster Art and Serigraph Prints of Alejandra Magalles and Carlos Cardenas from Mexico City.
FILM		Our very special guest will be Sylvia Perel, founder and organizer of the Latin Film Festival in the United States. Ms Perel will be presenting a "mini" Latin Film Festival in Todos Santos.
THEATRE		On the schedule is the theater group "La Matraca" from Hermosillo, Sonora, featuring works by Rojo Carmesi. Theater activities are also being planned for the youth of Todos Santos.
REGIONAL CRAFTS		Efforts are being made to revive and support local craft artists located in Todos Santos and surrounding areas. Special efforts are being made by local Mexican and American communities to find, organize and secure each of the slowly dying art and crafts disciplines. Included crafts are clay pottery and Palo de Arco (local indigenous tree whose branches are harvested) from which furniture, beautifully woven stick fences and roof supports are made. There will be an exhibit of rope woven from the local palm trees used for making seats of chair and benches. The rope is also used for tying down palapa (palm thatched) roofs.
CULINARY ARTS		There's even talk of getting some local cooks to prepare traditional dishes for the week of the festival. Dishes could include tamales wrapped in banana leaves and yes, some will be vegetarian , local goat stew (birria), stuffed fish wrapped in foil and some candy made from the fruit from the mango and guava. Want to know how the locales used to get sugar from the sugar cane and still do? Well, there will be a demonstration exhibiting all the tools used by the locals for generations.

The organizers of the Art Festival 2003 understand that many artists may want to participate in this event. You are all welcome to apply for inclusion, but we are subject to the laws of Mexico and are committed to working within the rules and regulations of the Mexican Immigration Service and Hacienda (Mexican IRS). Look for further info on how to fill out your visa forms when entering Mexico and other information of compliance here in the near future. Applications will be available soon. All applicants are required to send in samples of their work. Crafts will be limited to only Mexican artisans. For more information call Heriberto Parra (011-52-612-145-0225), Paquita (011-52-612-145-0257) or Nanette (011-52-612-145-0183), all of whom are bilingual.

The hard work of organizing the festival is being done by many supporting community groups and individuals with the single goal of making the 2003 Art Festival one of the best ever held in Todos Santos. So come to Todos Santos and celebrate the beauty and richness of the Mexican Culture with us.