An enjoyable evening is guaranteed when renowned musicians and music educators Daniel Ward and Heidi Swedberg take the stage of the Ajijic Cultural Center on Wednesday, January 27, 7 p.m. 

Lakeside Little Theatre’s “Good People” is a poignant, brave and almost subversive play that focuses on what it really means to be down on your luck. 

At the core of the play is a long pondered moral dilemma: Is it strength of character or just a few lucky breaks that determines a person’s fate? 

Director Lynn Phelan’s clear-sighted interpretation of David Lindsay-Abaire’s tribute to his old South Boston neighborhood empowered the actors to perform with an almost aching authenticity.

Before the show, a couple is overheard talking:

Her: You know there’s a lot of profanity in this play?

Him: That’s why I came.

Her: Well it’s not why I came.

Lakeside appears to have digested all nine performances of David Mamet’s “Glengarry Glen Ross” with a good deal of satisfaction and nary a burp. 

Once again, it’s the time of year when music lovers start anticipating the next Northern Lights Music Festival, now to be called Northern Lights Festival de Febrero. Every year, festival organizers say that it keeps getting better and better, and although it is hard to believe, this year is, in fact, better than ever. The line-up of truly stellar performers is astonishing, and especially so because this is Ajijic, not New York or Toronto, and because the ticket prices are Lakeside’s most attractive bargain.

Galeria al Aire Libre Axixic (GALA) will come to life Saturday, February 6, 4 p.m., introducing a ground-breaking concept for an open-air art gallery set at the Ajijic plaza that will be tied into stimulus for social activism.

Along with all the national holidays and festivities that will be observed during 2016, there will be many special celebrations going on in the Lake Chapala area. Check the Reporter’s pages for news of big events the local government will be scheduling month by month. Meanwhile, here’s a glance at the principal fiestas patronales honoring religious patrons and important saints, plus other traditional happenings that will keep the community jumping through the year: