By KYLIE MADRY

Guanajuato’s iconic International Cervantine Festival (FIC) will look a bit different this year, after being temporarily canceled due to the global covid-19 pandemic.

Instead, the 48th annual festival will be hosted online, beginning Wednesday, Oct. 14, and running through Sunday, Oct. 18, “to protect the integrity of the public, the artists and the participants,” according to a FIC press release.

The festival dates back to the 1950s, when “Don Quixote” author Miguel de Cervantes’ short plays, called entremeses, were performed in the plazas of Guanajuato.

Over the almost 50 years of its run, the International Cervantine Festival has become one of the most important cultural fests in Latin America, and typically brings hundreds of thousands of visitors to town each year.

“The global pandemic opened new opportunities to explore formats adapted to our reality; not just to transfer cultural expressions to the screen, but also to adjust digital resources to the needs of artistic expressions and their creators,” said Mariana Aymerich Ordoñez, the festival’s general director.

Over five days, the festival will livestream presentations, performances, conferences, workshops and masterclasses through the International Cervantine Festival website, social media and public television Channels 11, 14 and 22.

This year’s free festival will feature over 570 artists from around the world, with artists from the southern Mexican state of Coahuila and Cuba attending as guests of honor.

The festival will also commemorate composer Ludwig van Beethoven’s 250th birthday with a variety of performances, including Symphony No. 5 in C minor by the Symphonic Orchestra of the University of Guanajuato, a choreography set by the National Dance Company called “Ludwig en tu casa 2.0,” and two string trio works from the 1790s performed by the Latin American Quartet.

Organizers announced that, to support the city of Guanajuato, a tourism program will be developed and resources will be provided.

…Oct. 14, 2020