In the wake of the attempted assassination in broad daylight of a former state attorney general by cartel commandos, the city’s tourism board is creating a festival it says has been designed to attract tourism to one of the city’s main nightlife centers.
According to Guadalajara tourism chief Martin Almadez, the festival is being put on in coordination with the Restaurant Industry Chamber of Commerce and business owners operating along Avenida Chapultepec, the area known as the Zona Rosa.
The festival will feature a wide variety of gastronomic and musical offerings, workshops and what it terms “campaigns of awareness.” It will run from Avenida Mexico to Calle Morelos (at whose intersection with Chapultepec last month’s bloody shootout occurred).
The campaigns will cover a few different issues, such as the harm that improperly-disposed-of plastic poses to the environment, planting trees in urban spaces, and the importance of picking up after your dog’s bowel movements.
One of the aims of the festival and its accompanying awareness campaigns is to help Chapultepec obtain the coveted “Zona Turistica” status, which comes with a special plaque; all of which may eventually lure more (monied) foreigners to the area.
Authorities stress that the festival, whose exact timeline has yet to be announced (possibly July 1-15), will enjoy beefed up presence of law enforcement for the safety and security of all.