The nine-day FESTA arts festival kicked off Thursday, August 1 with a presentation of the play “MinotauriKa,” a modern-day spin on the Greek minotaur legend.
This annual festival is featuring arts groups from 60 Jalisco municipalities, providing them with the opportunity to showcase their talents in front of large audiences in the Guadalajara metro area. Around 2,500 artists will participate in 90 performances scheduled throughout the festival at nine venues: the Teatro Degollado, Ex Convento del Carmen, Plaza Andares, the San Juan de Dios and Plaza Universidad Tren Ligero stations, Teatro Alarife Martin Casillas, La Casa Suspendida, Foro de Arte y Cultura and Instituto Culutral Cabañas. Music and dance predominate but several theatrical performances and literary events are also included in the program. There will be free entry on a first-come-first-served basis to all but a handful of shows.
Listed below are some highlights. Download the full schedule at www.http://sc.jalisco.gob.mx/agenda/festival/2238.
SATURDAY, AUGUST 2
- Ex Convento del Carmen, noon to 9 p.m. Continual performances on the hour by musical and dance troupes from Jalisco municipalities: Atotonilco el Alto, Acatic, San Miguel El Alto, Municipio: Mezquitic, Etzatlán, Guadalajara, Arandas, Atoyac.
- Teatro Degollado, 1 p.m. Orquesta Juvenil de Jazz y Big Band. At 8 p.m. folk singer Paco Padilla presents a program honoring his hometown of Tlaquepaque.
- Foro de Arte y Cultura, 6:30 p.m. Violin quartet presents works by Vivaldi, followed by dance groups from Guadalajara and Zapotlan.
SUNDAY, AUGUST 3
- Ex Convento del Carmen, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Continual performances on the hour by musical and dance troupes from El Arenal, La Huerta, Magdalena, Jilotlán de los Dolores, Ixtlahuacán del Río.
- Teatro Degollado, 6 p.m. Performance by folk dance troupes from Atotonilco El Alto, Cabo Corrientes and Zapotlán El Grande.
MONDAY, AUGUST 4
- Instituto Culutral Cabañas, from 4 p.m. Special session dedicated to children’s dance groups.
TUESDAY, AUGUST 5
- Ex Convento del Carmen, 7 p.m. Ballet Folclórico Tlaxomulli and Banda Municipal de Tlajomulco.
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 6
- Teatro Degollado, 7 p.m. The Víctor Manuel Médeles Chamber Orchestra from Chapala performs Piazzolla’s “Las cuatro estaciones porteñas,” directed by Emmanuel Médeles Medina. Concert also features Sinfónica Juvenil de El Grullo and Tepatitlán de Morelos Big Band playing songs by Frank Sinatra, Glenn Miller, Ray Coniff, etc.
- Instituto Cultural Cabañas, from 4 p.m. Session dedicated to children’s dance and theater groups.
THURSDAY, AUGUST 7
- Ex Convento del Carmen, 7 p.m. Music groups from Zacoalco de Torres and Autlán de Navarro, Orquesta Sinfónica Juvenil de Autlán and the Coro Municipal de Autlán.
- Teatro Degollado, 8 p.m. The Marabunta music collective, featuring the groups Espumas y Terciopelos, Fesway and Pumcayó.
- Instituto Cultural Cabañas, from 4 p.m. Dance from Cihuatlán.
FRIDAY, AUGUST 8
- Instituto Culutral Cabañas, from 4 p.m. Music from Guachinango and San Martín de Hidalgo.
- Ex Convento del Carmen, 5-9 p.m. Dance and music from Puerto Vallarta, Zapotlán El Grande, Tomatlán, Tonalá.
SATURDAY, AUGUST 9
- Ex Convento del Carmen, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Continual performances on the hour by musical and dance troupes from Tototlán, lxtlahuacán del Río, Tecolotlán, Jesús María. Jalostotitlán, Zapotlán El Grande, Arandas, Zapotitlán de Vadillo.
- Teatro Alarife Martin Casillas, 7 p.m. Ballet gala with the Ensamble de Ballet Clásico de Zapopan, directed by Doris Topete.
- Teatro Degollado, 8 p.m. The festival closes with a multidisciplinary show paying homage to Jalisco-born author Juan José Arreola’s famous work “Bestiario.” One the first Latin American writers to abandon realism, Arreola used elements of fantasy to underscore existentialist and absurdist ideas in his work. Texts from “Bestiario” will be interspersed with music, including songs by well-known Guadalajara jazz-rock band Troker.