The Northern Lights Festival de Febrero, a normally joyous occasion featuring an international array of musicians assembled lakeside for two weeks of aural art, was darkened by sudden tragedy Friday, February 16, when accordion virtuoso Alexander Sevastian died of a heart attack in his room, just a few hours before he was slated to perform with Toronto-based jazz group Quartetto Gelato. He was just 41 years old.

Lakeside’s 40th annual Chili Cookoff fires up Friday, February 23, running through Sunday, February 25 at the Tobolandia Water Park located on the Chapala-Ajijic highway just west of the Libramiento junction.

Ajijic’s aspirations for designation as a Pueblo Mágico moved another step forward Monday, February 19 with the arrival of five federal officials on a mission to carry out a technical evaluation of the town’s qualifications.

The Chapala City Council has given a thumbs up for the donation of a 20-hectare parcel of land destined to house the Centro Universitario de la Ribera, a local campus for the University of Guadalajara (UdG).

The United States Consulate General in Guadalajara teams up with the Canadian Consulate and Mexican authorities at the Lake Chapala Society for an Expat Info Fair, Tuesday, February 27, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.

The saga of an expat businessman embroiled in a dispute with the Chapala government over paperwork requirements to obtain a building permit is a cautionary tale about unexpected troubles that can crop up for anyone owning or acquiring local property.