Stand by for a veritable feast of circus arts when Quebec brings some of its finest performers to Guadalajara for this year’s May Cultural Festival.

Local business leaders are ready to chip in and help pay part of the salary of Alondra de la Parra, the 31-year-old New York-born conductor who was named the new music director of the Jalisco Philharmonic Orchestra (JPO) just before Easter.

In words that may strike a chord with those unpaid thespians who take part in lakeside productions, acclaimed actor John Malkovich declared that theater should be free, ahead of his performance in Guadalajara this week.

The 15th annual May Cultural Festival will see the Canadian province of Quebec share its unique artistic, musical and performance styles with the state of Jalisco.

How is it that a Canadian couple breeze into Guadalajara for a one-week visit, are initially overwhelmed by this buzzing city, but end up staying for two months and canceling their around-the-world travel plans so they can embark on an artistic project aimed at humanizing the people who sell gum and wash windows on city streets, and then miraculously manage to get their project exhibited in a coveted public venue?

The TlaquepArte crafts extravaganza keeps getting better and better and more popular than ever with the foreign community.