...........FESTIVALS AND EVENTS.............

February, 2010

February 19 to 23, 2010 San Miguel International Writers' Conference - Cultural San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato A Bi-Lingual Writers' Conference featuring Barbara Kingsolver http://www.sanmiguelwritersconference.org/

San Miguel de Allende, Paradise for Gringos Et Al

Ten thousand gringos can't be wrong, can they? That's the minimum estimated number of ex-pats (actually, gringos and other foreigners) that call San Miguel 'mi casa,' or at least, 'mi part-time casa.' But somehow this UNESCO World Heritage Site manages to preserve its Mexican charm.

Less than an hour north of Queretaro by car and about four hours north of Mexico City, San Miguel de Allende (SMA) has a desert-mountain climate with lots of succulents, cacti and other dry-landscape plants in the surrounding hills. Many of the lovely new and refurbished homes here wisely use xeroscape, which is good because the water table is in serious trouble. This 16th-century town---once a supply center along the Camino Real---has in the last 20 years experienced an exponential jump in population.

People who live here tell me that it's a 'fiesta town,' that SMA has more parties---often with rockets and firecrackers booming long into the night---than anywhere else in Mexico. Add to that the late-November Jazz and Blues Festival, the three-month Santa Fe Photographic Workshops, and classical music season, and the fiesta in honor of its patron saint, the archangel Michael. In late summer there's the Short Film Festival. All year long art films and classics are shown in a tiny video theater the back of The Market Bistro restaurant-bar; the wonderful public library (second-largest English-language collection in Mexico) offers music, films, and lectures. There's pretty much something to do every day of the week. Pick up the weekly bilingual newsrag Atención San Miguel to find out what's up.

Much of the action happens at or not far from SMA's pretty central plaza, El Jardín. Benches under geometrically pruned laurel trees are the perfect venue for loafing, chatting with friends, and admiring the town's unusual cathedral. Shops, cafes and banks are found under the arched porticos.

Cultural Venues and Places to Shop, Browse, Eat and Let Loose

The most well-known places to study---art, yoga, painting, English, Spanish, and more---are Bellas Artes and el Instituto Allende. Many repeat visitors, however, study with private instructors or at less formal classes. Concerts are sometimes held at these venues, at one of the town's many ornate churches, or at the Teatro Angela Peralta. (Every city seems to have its Angela Peralta Theater, as this opera singer died a tragic death of yellow fever after a gig in Mexico.)

While San Miguel isn't a foodie's town (what exactly is the deal with food in Guanajuato state?), there are many pretty restaurants and cafés to choose from, and lots of bars serve food as well. SMA has tons of art galleries and high-end shops selling folk art. The loveliest of the lot is La Aurora, where about 50 different shops and galleries occupy a refurbished cotton mill. It's about a 10-minute walk north of the plaza.

If you're looking to spend less money (that would be almost everybody), try the Artisan's Market, the Mercado de San Juan de Dios, or the fun Tianguis de Martes (Tuesday market), the latter obviously on Tuesdays only. This is an old-fashioned traveling market carrying everything from plants and candy of every description to pirated DVDs and CDs, cooked food, and piles of Gap and Hollister rejects and knock-offs.

Get Outta Town

It's hard to power walk on San Miguel's uneven cobblestone streets. If you don't watch your step you'll wind up twisting an ankle or falling on your fanny. Those who want to jog or walk fast for exercise might head to Parque Juárez, about three blocks south of the main plaza. Other options for exercise outside town include a trip to El Charco del Ingeniero, a lovely botanical garden with plants of the area and a nice cafe and botanical gift shop.

If you're as eager to tip back a few drinks as to exercise, the Hash House Harriers head out of town each Monday at 3 p.m. The international organization call itself 'drinkers with a running problem,' but the San Miguel chapter is more into walking than running.

Out in the tawny hills surrounding town there are hot springs like La Escondida and Las Grutas to visit, both with beautiful gardens. La Taboada has an Olympic-size swimming pool and hot tub filled with mineral water. Beyond all the art, colonial buidings and things to do, San Miguel has an enviable location. In Mexicos heartland, it's reasonably close to such other colonial cities as Puebla, Tlaxcala, Guanajuato, Dolores Hidalgo, Querétaro, Mexico City and Zacatecas.