Ambitious plans are being drawn up for this year’s International Mariachi Festival – the 20th anniversary of this landmark Guadalajara shindig that celebrates Jalisco’s greatest musical gift to the world.
Scheduled from August 28 through September 8, the festival will be headlined by two world-famous singers: Tapatio heartthrob Alejandro Fernandez and Spain’s Alejandro Sainz.
The two legends will be accompanied by some of the best mariachi groups in the business at concerts in the 6,000-seat Telmex Auditorium on September 6 and 7, respectively. The Fernandez concert will herald the start of a world tour and feature innovative staging designed exclusively for him in Australia and Belgium.
Organizers once again hope to break the Guinness record for the largest number of mariachis playing simultaneously.
At least 300 events are planned over the course of the festival, with 90 percent of them free charge to the public.
While the nation’s top bands will feature at the emotional evening galas held in the Teatro Degollado and Telmex Auditorium, lesser-known local mariachi groups are being encouraged to participate this year. One criticism of the festival has been that many smaller bands that ply their trade in and around the city’s Plaza de los Mariachis are excluded from the festival at the expense of more established names.
The festival’s organizers, the Guadalajara Chamber of Commerce, have promised to hold auditions for local groups and select several to perform at various venues during the festival.
For the first time, the festival will include an “invited” guest country – Spain has been chosen this year.
The festival’s colorful opening parade, scheduled for Sunday, September 1, will feature more than 60 groups this year, in addition to folk dancers and charro horsemen and women.
Gala concerts at the Degollado are planned for August 29, 30 and 31, and September 3, 4 and 5. Tickets are priced from 450 to 2,150 pesos.