Aug 5-21, XXI Fiesta de la Vendimia (21st Annual Wine Harvest Festival), Ensenada, Baja California.

Aug 5-21, XXI Fiesta de la Vendimia (21st Annual Wine Harvest Festival), Ensenada, Baja California.

Aug 1-15, XXXIII Festival Internacional de Música de Camara (International Chamber Music Festival), San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato. A classical music festival to bid farewell to the summer, featuring award-winning international ensembles, guest musicians and local artists performing in the city’s beautiful open gardens or grand gothic cathedral. Considered the top chamber music festival in Latin America, it continues the tradition of presenting internationally acclaimed chamber music ensembles at incredibly accessible prices in intimate, acoustically satisfying venues in a charming historic town. In addition, fifty Mexican and North American music students will be accepted into the festival’s International Advanced Student Music and Composition Program. Students perform in public venues throughout San Miguel and have opportunities to learn about Mexican cultural through home stays and excursions.

Aug 1-17, XXXVIII Feria Internacional de la Guitarra (38th Annual International Guitar Show), Paracho, Michoacán. This festival has international character, with a primary outreach to artists from Mexico, but does not neglect the work of great international guitarists in the world of music. Hosting various concerts and contests with world class guitarists, Paracho attracts tourism (national and international) and therefore boosts the socio-economic growth of the community.  Paracho is nationally and internationally known for the guitars that are manufactured there. Along with the concerts there will be hand crafted guitars on exhibit and for sale.

August 1-20, Feria de Huamantla (Huamantla Fair), Huamantla, Tlaxcala. This festival takes place in Huamantla during the month of August, where they worship the Virgen de la Caridad or Virgin of Charity and the famous Noche que Nadie Duerme  (night no one sleeps). This takes place the night of August 14th, when the streets are adorned with beautiful multi-colored carpets of sawdust and flowers, and at midnight the procession of the Virgin. During the Huamantla Fair, August 14th is the typical Huamantlada through the streets of the city, where fighting bulls are released to be goaded by fans in a circuit through the main streets. The fair covers the entire month of August, where you will see events of popular culture and folklore, such as the procession of the Virgen de la Caridad, bullfights and bull runs midnight, cock fights, artist showcases, dances, the traditional fireworks, rides and more.

Aug 5-21, XXI Fiesta de la Vendimia (21st Annual Wine Harvest Festival), Ensenada, Baja California. This wine festival takes place every summer in August. The wine is grown in el Valle de Guadalupe in conditions that are remarkably similar to those in southwestern France. Two weeks of wine tasting, music and gourmet cooking are interlaced with fiestas. A series of musical, cultural and eating events lead up to a Verbena Popular celebrating wines birth, which also highlights the main wine producers of the region. The festival also offers a variety of comida corridas, traditional Mexican main meals.

Aug 6-8, X  Paquimé Festival, Casas Grandes, Chihuahua. This festival, also called Splendor of the Cultures, takes place in Casas Grandes, just outside the renowned Paquimé archaeological site (declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1998) near the city of Casas Grandes in Chihuahua.  It is a celebration of the heritage and cultures of northern Mexico and to bring together Mexico’s northern cities with the South Western states of the USA (Arizona, Texas, and New Mexico).  The festival features parades, art contests, painting exhibitions, concerts, pre-Hispanic music, poetry readings, children’s workshops and much more.

Aug 6-28, Festival del Chile en Nogada, Puebla, Puebla. The national dish of Mexico, Chile en Nogada is celebrated every year with a month of activities, including culinary competitions, conferences, gastronomic displays, and competitions for the largest chile. Inspired by the Mexican flag, the dish contains a chile (green), walnut sauce (white), with pomegranate (red) sprinkled over the walnut sauce. A must for lovers of Mexican cuisine!

Aug 11-27, IV Festival Internacional de Jazz y Blues, Zacatecas. The city of Zacatecas’ annual festival is dedicated exclusively to promoting jazz and blues, spreading the music that local artists are doing, and moreover, bringing the best national and international artists from this musical genre to the public. In the four years of the Jazz and Blues Festival, it has been placed among the highlighted music festivals of the country. Video of Luis Diaz performing in 2009: http://youtu.be/t39RHqaTxaw

Aug 12-15, V Feria del Hongo (5th Annual Mushroom Fair of San Juanito), San Juanito, Chihuahua. A mushroom is a mushroom is a mushroom? Not at this festival. Learn more about the various types of mushrooms available and their diverse contributions to the culinary world through workshops, demonstrations and taste-testing. This event also features cooking contests and cultural events.

Aug 15, Dia de la Asuncion de la Virgen Guadalupe (Ascension Day), Nationwide. This is one of Mexico’s most important religious events. The Virgin Guadalupe is extremely important and revered by Mexican Catholics – her image, almost without exception next to a crucifix, is everywhere in Mexico. Special masses and processions take place nationwide, with a huge mass at the Basilica de Guadalupe (where the original image is hosted) in Mexico City.  December 12, 1531 was the day the Virgin appeared to Juan Diego – a Mexican Indian. The original shrine (Basilica) was finished in 1709 but became dangerous when it started sinking on it foundations. A new round shrine was built from 1974-76 and the image of the Virgin can be seen from anywhere in the church. In the colonial city of Aguascalientes, a monument in honor of the Virgin Guadalupe is decorated and the city hosts a special Mass and processions take place downtown in which all of the city’s churches are represented. The day is especially important in Huamantla, near Puebla, south of Mexico City. Special masses and processions take place.

Aug 25-28, Fiesta de Agustin de las Cuevas en Tlalpan (Feast of San Agustin de las Cuevas) Mexico City. Each year the Feast of San Agustin de las Cuevas, is held in Tlalpan in the heart of southern Mexico City. This great event includes parades, folk dancing, cockfights, traditional Mexican dishes, photo contests and music in the alleys and more throughout the narrow streets of the Tlapan district.

Aug 25-28, Las Morismas de Bracho (Morismas of Bracho), Lomas de Bracho , Zacatecas. Held every year during the last weekend of August, this massive show without a doubt is one of the oldest traditions of Zacatecas because, according to the members, it has an antiquity of more than three hundred years. This event is of meeting of all member countries of the Confraternity of San Juan Bautista (their patron saint), which consists of thousands. The main activities carried out are: seminars, parades and mock battles of the Moorish armies faced against Christians, led by historical characters, whose participation determines the alternating victories, which is finally triumphant on the Christian side. All simulations are in Lomas de Bracho during the first three days; the last day (Sunday) there is a colorful parade through the streets of the city, in which each side presents religious troops, war bands, royal entourage, artillery, flags and banners that are made. This is a spectacular event because their uniforms (Moors and Christians), are made in colorful costumes of bright colors. For more info: www.zacatecas.gob.mx  Video from 2010: http://youtu.be/RZ8ofwkK_jM