Aficionados of the performing arts are always happy when October rolls around. It means show time! First, traditionally, a statewide festival of the arts tours Sinaloa’s major cities for two weeks in mid-to-late October under the banner of the Sinaloa Arts Fair. Difocur, the cultural arm of state government in Culiacán, imports a variety of performers ranging from international ballet, opera, jazz and rock groups to intersperse with performances by its own first-rate symphony orchestra and other local talent. This year, it begins Oct. 12 with a top Italian rock group. It has been customary for the Mazatlán Cultural Festival to follow starting Nov. 1 and lasting until Christmas. Last year, however, there was an overlap. The Mazfest began in October with events aimed at growing the local audience. Schoolchildren were brought to the Angela Peralta Theater to see and hear live performances of opera for the first time in most of their lives. At the same time music and dance groups from the Municipal Center for the Arts fanned out to give free performances in Mazatlán’s major colonias as well as in La Noria, El Quelite and Villa Union. All that is happening again this year during the now-expanded Mazfest. The performances in the Angela Peralta Theater that will interest the general audience begin with a splash: Mozart’s “Requiem” in a production with all stops rolled out in honor of the Austrian composer’s 250th birthday. Musicians will include the professionals who teach at the Municipal Center as well as their top students, along with the members of the Mazatlán Camerata and the Angela Peralta Chorale. Interestingly enough, Mozart will be resounding from the theater at the same time Eugenia Leon, longtime nationally known singer of Mexican pops, belts them out at the Plazuela Republica in a free concert that closes the Sinaloa Arts Fair. So the best of Mazfest picks up where Sinfair leaves off. Looking at the state’s festival this year, you’ll note that a distinct touch of international flavor pervades the state with the arrival of the 2006 edition of the Sinaloa Arts Fair. As usual, some of the imported talent that will play all of the state’s major cities will perform for free. In Mazatlán, these artists will appear mainly in the Plazuela Machado. Other performers appear on a pay-per-view basis, generally playing in Mazatlán at the Angela Peralta Theater. Whatever your pleasure — swinging with jazz, soaring with symphony, listening to famous rock groups or watching top dancers — there is something for you during this year’s Arts Fair. Not all the smallest

details had been ironed out when the Pacific Pearl went to press, but you can pick up any last-minute information by checking the CULTURA website at www.culturamazatlan.com.mx. The Sinaloa Arts Fair comes here on three successive October weekends, starting with Thursdays. Here’s the lineup of the intertwining arts festivals by date, place and prices if known: SINALOA ARTS FAIR Thursday, Oct.12: Premiata Forneria Marconi (Italy) Progressive rock concert 8:00pm Angela Peralta Theater Prices: 100, 150, 180 pesos Friday, Oct.13: Two free concerts in the Plazuela Machado 6:00pm Bandula (music for children) 8:00pm Teatro Tescabili de Bergamo (Italy) “Love Sacred, Love Profane” Saturday, Oct. 14: Tatuas theater group (University of Sinaloa) Play (In Spanish) “Los negros pájaros del adiós” 8:00pm Angela Peralta Theater Prices: 80, 100, 120, 150 pesos Sunday, Oct. 15: Aldo Rodriguez (Sinaloa) “Sinaloa Electracoustique: Silent Notes & Bits” 7:00pm Antonio Haas IMSS Theater Prices: TBA Thursday, Oct. 19: Joel Juan Qui (Sinaloa) Presentation of CD “De Profundis” & piano recital 6:00pm Upstairs Gallery, Angela Peralta Theater Admission: free Dave McMurdo Jazz Quintet (Canada) 8:00pm Angela Peralta Theater Prices: 100, 150, 180, 200 pesos Friday, Oct. 20: Classical music Sinaloa Symphony of the Arts (Mexico), Christian Leotta, guest pianist (Italy) 8:00pm Angela Peralta Theater Prices: 100, 150, 180, 200 pesos Sunday, Oct. 22: Music in the Machado from two countries, Quemayama (Mexico) & Reyes Vallenatos (Colombia) 6:00pm Plazuela Machado Free Thursday, Oct. 26: Delfos Danza Contemporanea (Mexico) “Corners of Light” 8:00pm Angela Peralta Theater Tickets: 80, 100, 120, 150 pesos Friday, Oct. 27: Cristobal Reyes (Spain) One of Spain’s top flamenco dancers 8:00pm Angela Peralta Theater Tickets: 100, 200, 250 pesos Saturday, Oct. 28: Final Arts Fair Performance Popular singer Eugene Leon (Mexico) 8:00pm Plazuela Republica Free MAZATLAN CULTURAL FESTIVAL Saturday, Oct. 28: Mozart’s “Requiem” with orchestra & chorus under the baton of Enrique Patron de Rueda 8:00pm Angela Peralta Theater Tickets: 100, 150, 200 pesos And don’t forget the callejoneada (free street procession) to mark the Day of the Dead, strolling from the Plazuela Machado at 7:00 p.m. Nov. 1, to visit a series of altars of the type that Mexicans traditionally set up to honor departed loved ones. These last two events mark the beginning of the Mazatlán Cultural Festival as it moves to the Centro Historico. Watch for the entire calendar for November and December to be published in the November edition of the Pacific Pearl.