The Guadalajara Reporter

City Living - April 4, 2014

The American School Foundation of Guadalajara presents its first Technovation Program on Wednesday, April 9, from 6-9 p.m.

Each participant will be given four minutes to get up on stage and explain a mobile application that they have created in a team under the guidance of a professional “mentor.” All the presentations will be in English.

The winners will receive Google Nexus 7 tablets supplied by Oracle MDC. The top ten teams will later travel to San Francisco, California to participate and compete for prizes in a “Pitch Night.”

The school says the program is designed to encourage female students to study computer science degrees after they leave high school.  For more information call 3648-2405.

Con Comics

Eagerly awaited by youthful fans, the Con Comics Expo returns to Expo Guadalajara on April 12 and 13.  A smaller version of San Diego’s famous Comic-Con convention, it covers the same range of pop culture elements, such as horror, animation, anime, manga, toys, collectible card games, video games, webcomics, and fantasy novels.

Many of those attending get into the spirit of things by dressing up as their favorite fantasy characters.

Expo Guadalajara is at Av. Mariano Otero 1499, corner of Las Rosas.

Tequila Tour

For those who wish to see a tequila factory without taking a tourist train or driving out through the agave fields to the town of Tequila, Tequilas del Señor offers daily tours at its plant in the suburb of Tlaquepaque.  This the oldest working tequila factory in the metro area.

Hours for tours are a 8 a.m., noon, 3 p.m., 4:30 p.m. and 6 p.m. Call (33) 5000-5200 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. for reservations.  The cost is 150 pesos. Also visit www.tequilasdelsenor.com.mx.

California

The U.S. state of California will be the invited guest at the 17th edition of the Festival Cultural de Mayo, which will run from May 8 through May 31 at 20 venues in the metropolitan area.

Venues include the Teatro Degollado, Plaza Fundadores, the Foro LARVA and the huge Plaza Liberación.  In total, 66 separate events are planned.

Among highlights will be two concerts by jazz great Gregory Porter, winner of a 2014 Grammy for his album “Liquid Spirit.”

Los Angeles-based dance company Diávolo Dance Theater will present their unique blend of modern dance, acrobatics and gymnastics.

Vanguard music will be heard from bands such as Sexy Sushi, Hollywood Afternoon and The California Honeydrops.

Hometown piano prodigy Daniela Liebman will perform with the Orquesta Sinfónica de Zapopan, while several groups from the festival’s last two invited “nations,” Quebec and France, will return to Guadalajara.

An opera gala on Sunday, May 18, 6:30 p.m. will feature the Jalisco Philharmonic Orchestra directed by Marco Parissoto, baritone José Adán Peréz and soprano Karen Gardeazábal.

Look for a full program of events in this newspaper over the next two weeks, and visit www.festivaldemayo.org for the full program. You can also keep up to date with festival news on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.