Now in its 20th year, the San Pancho Music Festival is set to rock residents and visitors alike in San Pancho, Nayarit, on February 28 to March 1 with 27 bands from across the Americas.

Musicians from Canada, the United States, Mexico and elsewhere in Latin America will perform a wide variety of musical genres, such as blues, rock, jazz, Mexican folk, flamenco, classical and more.

With two stages in San Pancho’s Plaza del Sol, the three-day festival offers continuous music from 5:00pm to after 11:00pm each day and aims to consolidate the town’s status as the cultural heart of the Riviera Nayarit.

Local restaurants and vendors will provide food, drinks and arts and crafts in the plaza so festival-goers don’t have to miss a minute of music to grab a bite to eat.

Unlike other similar music festivals on Mexico’s Pacific coast, such as Ixtapa-Zihuatanejo Tequila Blues & Rock Explosion and the Blues on the Beach festival in Huatulco, Oaxaca, which raise money for local charities through ticket sales, this event is offered free to the public through the generosity of volunteers, musicians and the local business community.

Donations are welcome, however, as expenses have grown along with the festival itself, which began in 2001 when then-residents John and Patricia Alexander invited 12 local musicians to join the informal jam sessions they held on their back porch.

By 2006 the festival was hosting over 100 performers and it was apparent that it had outgrown the Alexander home. It moved to the Plaza del Sol in 2007 and has only gotten bigger ever since.

A limited number of chairs will be available in the square on a first-come-first-serve basis, so people are advised to bring their own in case they fill up fast.

Visit the festival website for more information, including line ups, artist bios, photo galleries and more.

Mexico News Daily