International Cervantes Festival

Cervantes Festival, International

OctoberSpanish novelist, poet, and playwright Miguel de Cervantes (1547-1616) is best known for his creation of Don Quixote (1605), a novel that describes the adventures of an elderly knight and his pragmatic squire, Sancho Panza. Cervantes is honored in a three-week festival held in Guanajuato, Mexico, featuring orchestral music, opera, theater, dance, film, and folklore. At the festival's opening ceremony, statues of Don Quixote and Sancho Panza are lit up by fireworks.
Although most festival events are held in the Teatro Juarez and the Teatro Principal, amateur Mexican actors often give street performances of Cervantes's famous one-act plays in the Plaza de San Roque. Various musical performances are a popular attraction, as are art exhibits, children's theater, and folkloric dance ensembles.
CONTACTS:
Mexico Tourism Board
21 E. 63rd St., Fl. 3
New York, NY 10021
800-446-3942 or 212-821-0314; fax: 212-821-0367
www.visitmexico.com
SOURCES:
GdWrldFest-1985, p. 134
IntlThFolk-1979, p. 269