Just as Día de Muertos passed into the rearview mirror in San Miguel de Allende, a host of other community events and activities popped up to help fill the void. An annual artisan fair is occupying the Jardín Principal, and the annual International Jazz & Blues Festival begins this week. Other special events include a three-day art experience next week and a pet sterilization nonprofit’s request for donations for a fundraising garage sale.
Read on for more about a few of the many community activities happening in and around San Miguel de Allende this month.
Wool and brass artisans take over the Jardín Principal
Dozens of local artisans working with wool and metal have set up booths around the Jardín Principal and will be there from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily through Nov. 15 to sell their work and show the public how these traditional crafts are produced.
Several of the artisans are demonstrating how they hand-weave rugs and other textile pieces, as well as shape sheets of metal into embossed frames for mirrors and other objects such as light fixtures, hearts and stars.
Ramiro Rodriguez Cordova is on hand with his 100% wool rugs, mats, table runners, bedspreads and curtains, which he weaves at his studio in Colonia Providencia. His “Los Tejedores” (“The Weavers”) business has been producing woven textiles for more than 35 years.
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Handmade metal products from Arte de San Miguel include hearts in various designs and other creative metalwork produced by Yolanda Yáñez Trejo and Fabricio Mendoza Vásquez at their studio in Colonia San Felipe Neri. Their son, Maximilian, is staffing their booth to show and sell his parents’ designs.
The annual Wool and Brass Fair began in 1978 and was originally held in the Centro Cultural Ignacio Ramírez El Nigromante (Bellas Artes). The craft sector is considered a main mover of San Miguel’s economy, and exhibiting this work in one of the city’s major tourist destinations could help artisans sell 10 times more than in their traditional workshops.
Get ready for the annual Jazz & Blues Festival
The 32nd annual International Jazz & Blues Festival kicks off Wednesday, Nov. 11, at 1 p.m. with a free Didactic Jazz Concert featuring the Antonio Lozoya Jazz Trio at Casa El Nigromante, Umarán 28, in Centro.
The festival ends on Sunday, Nov. 15, with a tribute to Sting showcasing singer and actress Alicia González, the San Miguel Blues & Jazz Collective and other guests. That show starts at 6 p.m. at the Instituto Allende auditorium, Ancha de San Antonio 22.
In between, the festival schedule includes free films about Benny Goodman and Chet Baker, plus three other paid-admission concerts. For additional information on the free events and to purchase tickets for the paid-admission ones, go here.
Three-day immersive art experience coming soon
Art of the Story, a nonprofit arts organization in San Miguel, is producing SPARK, a three-day immersive experience of creative discovery for adults. It is being held Nov. 17-19 at La Casona Convention Center, Josefina Orozco 2, Colonia San Antonio.
The event will include exhibitions, presentations, spoken word, poetry, performance, conversation and hands-on experimentation, the group said, and will be presented in English.
According to Art of the Story, the goal of the event is to present “a welcoming space for participants to discover what happens when creative expectations are set aside” and not to teach people how to become artists.
Passes range from 300 to 1,000 pesos depending on the desired length of time at the event. More information is available here.
Wanted: Donations for Rosey’s Wish benefit garage sale
Rosey’s Wish SMA, which provides free spay and neuter services for pets in rural areas outside San Miguel, is looking for gently used donations for its upcoming benefit garage sale scheduled for Nov. 28.
Sale of the donated items (no books or clothing, please) will help the nonprofit exceed its recently reached goal of providing 2,000 free sterilizations this year through its mobile clinic.
Particularly helpful are household items, electronics, bedding, items for pets, kitchenware and tools. Donated garage sale items may be picked up or dropped off. More information about how to donate can be found on the group’s Facebook page.
Rosey’s Wish is named for a sick and malnourished street dog rescued in October 2023 at the Presa la Cantera reservoir a few miles from downtown. She was rescued and fostered and then found a permanent home.
Cathy Siegner is an independent journalist based in San Miguel and Montana. She has journalism degrees from the University of Oregon and Northwestern University.
