The proprietors of Just Chillin’ Bar and Grill have picked up the pieces and started over in the aftermath of a nasty break-in discovered early Tuesday, February 10. 

There was great excitement when ¡Viva! la Musica announced that it was bringing back the popular Catarsis Trio to Ajijic for an evening of Schubert, Rachmaninoff and Rechtman at the Auditorio de la Ribera on Thursday, February 5.

Chapala Sunrise Rotary Club’s 2015 International Women’s Golf Classic at the Chapala Country Club is set to coincide with the Thursday, March 5 worldwide observation of International Women’s Day. 

After a prominent lakeside recycling drop-off center closed last year due to rising transportation and labor costs, Alejandra Lazcano, the co-owner of Scrap Recyclers, the area’s remaining collector of recyclables, made a revealing comment to the Guadalajara Reporter. 

Mardi Gras madness takes over Ajijic on Tuesday, February 17 as  townsfolk let off steam in a last blast of pre-Lent frivolity. A full day of rowdy festivity begins with the spectacular Desfile de Carnaval, featuring fanciful floats, costumed revelers, marching bands and charro equestrians that head out from the east end of Constitución between 10 and 11 a.m., for a straight run across town to Seis Esquinas where it doubles back to the plaza via Hidalgo. Spectators know that the parade is approaching when they spot a throng of kids scurrying to escape the masked Sayaca dancers who generate mirth and mayhem by pelting on-lookers with fistfuls of flour and confetti.  

Skarnaval 2015, the fourth annual alternative music fest geared for the younger set, will be held in the open air forum at the Ajijic Malecón, 5 p.m. to 9 p.m., with assorted bands cranking out ska, punk and hip-hop tunes.

The action continues with the Carnaval Nocturno Desfile, departing from the corner of Galeana and Constitución around 7:30 p.m, to roll along the same route as the morning parade. The evening caps off with a dance party at the plaza where a live band churns out saucy cumbia and mambo rhythms.

An exhibition of sacred art, tied in with nine collateral events, is scheduled for February 14 through March 12 at Chapala’s Centro Cultural González Gallo (CCGG).