LOS MANGOS BILIOTECA & CULTURAL CENTER will have its 1st Annual Mexican Fiesta on May 19, 2012 at the Library, starting at 7 pm. The cost is 200 Pesos per person in advance or 250 Pesos at the Door. This includes one drink of your choice. Valet Parking is available for 50 pesos.

This Event will feature a Show on the grounds of the Library including the PV Youth Orchestra, the Folkloric Ballet and Mariachis.

Local restaurants will prepare for you a variety of typical Mexican dishes. Of course we will have a bar for your pleasure.

Please join us for this extraordinary Mexican Fair, a great opportunity to experience some of Mexico’s culture with fun entertainment ranging from games and prizes, to Photo Shoots, Mexican Bingo and more.

This will be an all–encompassing Cultural Event not to be missed.

Buy your tickets in advance at:

• Los Mangos Library, Francisco Villa 1001
• Los Mercados (Cork & Bottle), Aquiles Serdan 265
• Hotel Belmar, Insurgentes 161.

For more information contact either the Library @ 224-9966 or Irene Johnson @ 222-1319

As a Non-Profit Organization, Los Mangos Library & Cultural Center relies on donors and fundraising to keep the doors open to this valuable resource servicing our local community.

From 9 to 15 April in Lazaro Cardenas Park …

Do you like carved furniture? Do you like embroidered clothes? How about the rich rice bread, golden brown and crispy, traditionally prepared by Soyatán women? From Monday April 9 to 15 there will be an exhibition and sale of Soyatán artisan products in Parque Lazaro Cardenas, Puerto Vallarta.

Here is where you can find and buy home furniture for living rooms, dining rooms and bedrooms. Find headers, dividers, rockers, chairs and many ornamental and useful items made ​​of wood, with carving techniques in the Baroque style. All items are created ​​in fine woods such as mahogany, cedar and parota.

The main concern is that people who live in Soyatán (in the mountain area near San Sebastian) have a jobs that allow them an income. “Rural employment sources are scarce and we want our young people do not leave their town.” There will be 6 women artisans who produce openwork and embroidery. The typical food of this community will be served.

The artisans of Soyatán also take orders for custom furniture, thus, if you can not find the furniture of your choice, it may be ordered for delivery. Soyatán has an office in the delegation of Ixtapa, where they receive orders. In the 5 previous years this festival was held in Soyatán. To increase exposure, it will be held this year in Vallarta.

SLIDESHOW OF THE 2012 BUCERIAS OYSTER FESTIVAL:

UPDATE MARCH 2013: As is often the case with my decisions, I have decided that the Bucerias Oyster Festival actually was worth going to in spite of the problems. See you there…. Sunday, April 7, 2013

It was a good day with good friends but this “Bucerias Oyster Festival” was a bust as far as being open to the public. Apparently it is only for “special” people and we, as outsiders, were not welcome. We had a good time sitting outside of it at a small bar anyhow. Not sure what the deal was or why they advertised this as open to everyone. It certainly was not.

I will not be promoting this event next year. — the editor

Celebrate the 6th Bucerias Oyster Festival 2012

From Wednesday April 4, 36 divers from Bucerias and La Cruz de Huanacaxtle, began the Feast of the Week of the Oyster, which is held during the Easter holiday period and ending on Sunday, April 15, 2012, with la Fiesta del Ostión, in which oysters are given away and various festive events occur including the choosing of the Queen of the Oyster, la Reina del Ostión

6 years ago, the professional oyster divers of Bucerias and La Cruz de Huanacaxtle, which are part of the Cooperativa Costa de Chile, Peñita and Boca de Ameca, Sección Bucerías, took the initiative to organize themselves to work hard during the Easter holiday period to produce an event that is been called Oyster Week, la Semana de Ostión. This celebration begins on Wednesday 4 April, 2012, (one day before Holy Thursday each year). The event that lasts through Semana Santa and concludes, this year, on Sunday April 15, with la Fiesta del Ostión de Bucerías and the choosing of the Queen of the Oyster. Oysters are distributed free to all on the beach. Each diver is supposed to give 50 oysters away. There are 36 divers in the cooperatives.

Every day during this holiday period from early divers will delve into the sea to take oysters which they offer for sale directly between families and bathers crowd these days to the beautiful beach of Bucerias, specifically on the beach that known as The Point, where waves rise more than in another area and novice surfers the advantage to circumvent them.

Depending on the size of the oyster, the price of a dozen is from 70 to 100 pesos. These are offered to those who enjoy exquisite this marine delicacy, which is best served with, of course, a good beer, lime and salsa Huichol, a cuisine that has many adherents and creates a demand that makes the divers work all day.

The culmination of Oyster Week is also the end of the holiday period, which this year will be on Sunday, April 15th, with celebration of the Feast of the oyster on which day the oysters are given away and there are many events, including the selection of the oyster queen. It is a day of party. And this is a party to which are invited all tourists, visitors and locals who wish to participate. This day will have music music and interplay that is intended to entertain and amuse the people of the town of Bucerias along with the tourists. The oysters and ceviche are free and there will be many other food items and drinks available to buy. The party starts at 11 am on Sunday, 15 April.

MORE INFORMATION

• THE 2011 BUCERIAS OYSTER FESTIVAL
• http://www.nayaritopina.mx/index.php/mnu-rivieranayarit/4323-inician-los-preparativos-del-festival-del-ostion

April 14 – 15 at Collage and the Agustin Flores Contreras Sports Stadium. Live music, 40 graffiti artists and a BMX exhibition. 60 pesos at Collage, Free at the Stadium.

MORE INFORMATION ON FACEBOOK

This is a pseudo ecological festival that basically cons local, good-hearted people into thinking that they are supporting the environment, when, in reality, it is a conservative political, almost racist enterprise established to spread disinformation in favor of the right wing PAN political party here in Vallarta. The organizer is on a crusade to shut down a local gringo bar for providing a venue for many of the same bands that will be appearing at this show. She is also known for her anti gay sentimentality as expressed by her in a message to a local PAN leader that “all we need to do is to get rid of that fagot” (the current mayor).

Beyond these background bits and pieces, this is a very boring festival. I’ve been to 2 of them.

The Vallarta Wine Festival will be held for the sixth time in Puerto Vallarta, this time coinciding with the dates of the Tourism Expo.

Instead of taking place in the last week of February, the organizing committee decided to move the event to March to support the Tourism Expo with an event featuring haute cuisine, wine, culture and education.

The Wine Fest has distinguished itself as an excellent promotion for Puerto Vallarta which is held in high season, and all the cultural events included in the Festival are free of charge.

20 restaurants of the highest quality in Puerto Vallarta and Riviera Nayarit will offer for one week unique menus, wine lists and special tastings at promotional prices.

As in previous years, there will be a series of lectures for young students of tourism and gastronomy, as well as free training sessions for all staff who work in hotels or restaurants in Nuevo Vallarta or Puerto Vallarta.

One of the main events will be the Expovino, where professionals and the general public can enjoy a wine tasting from all of the vineyards participating in the Wine Fest, as well as manufacturers of fine cheeses, meats and artisan breads.

Different parts of the city will present cultural events: music, singing, theater and, of course, the traditional poetry contest with the theme of wine, supported by the Ministry of Culture in the State of Jalisco.

Eagerly awaited by the entire population will be the Sunday party at Plaza Lazaro Cardenas in the Romantic Zone, where participating restaurants offer food and wine tastings at affordable prices with folklore festival and a band for dancing.

Over the years this event has developed to become an extremely successful, cultural attraction which is why it will be a great contribution to all visitors who come to participate in the Tourism Expo 2012, giving them the opportunity to sample the best in gastronomy and viticulture.

A fundamental part of the event is the attendance of about 20 sommeliers from different regions that will host training and service sessions in participating restaurants.

The Wine Fest has become one of the most significant events in Banderas Bay. The celebration will be from 22 to 29 March 2012 and all events are free and open to the public.