FAOT Days Four Five Six and Seven

Buen Dia. Finally the FAOT flag has unfurled.

Sunday, Monday and Tuesday were beautiful days, but today it is sprinkling and overcast and very windy.On Sunday, Alamos was just jammed with people, the music venue was great, and alot was going on both day and night. It was surprising to see so many people in town. Last year's festival was well attended but Alamos was still suffering from the aftershock of Norbert. So, this year, it is good to see such large crowds of people.

The vendor booths always seem to have alot of people milling around, bargaining, chattering, buying.















The kissing alley had a constant surge of people going to and from the Plaza to the Alameda.

A scheduled noon performance of a saxaphone quartet from Mexico City had to be moved to 1:30pm, because someone forgot about noon mass. But it was well worth the wait. The four musicians are University students and the church acoustics were wonderful. Aleida Ibarra, an Armenian sopranist, sings below on the Plaza stage, late Sunday afternoon. The quartet of violins and cello are also from Armenia. A huge Mexican audience turned out for this performance and most of the people seemed very familiar with Ibarra and the quartet. Ibarra sang a heart stopping Madame Butterfly. The church is in full view from the stage and Ibarra did not skip a beat when the church bells tolled for 6pm mass.Monday and Tuesday were a little quieter. There were no concerts in the church and very little music during the day.

One of the great things about this festival is that it encompasses many arts. Although the main focus is music, there are art walks, there are movies and special exhibits in the museum, and there are classes held for painting, for music and photography among others. The classes are held for both adults and children. Monday and Tuesday seemed to be class days, with music in the evenings inside the Palacio and at the outdoor stage on the Plaza.



The Palacio is ready for an elegant evening of opera.

We took advantage of the slow day on Monday and went to the IMSS building in Navajoa to renew our Mexican health insurance. I will tell you more about that later.

Already I can hear some of the street performers, their bongo and guitars floating out into the barrios on the brisk wind.

So I am off on new old bike to explore the day's events. I will go up to the Mercado Artesanios, where the indigenas Mayo and Yaqui are offering traditional health information and food.

Then I will go to the church performance at noon. A violinist and pianist from Veracruz are performing.

At 1pm, I want to follow the clowns as they wind their way through the barrios. At 5pm, there is a Mexico City opera performance at the Plaza stage. Tonight there is more Bolero, opera by Lauren Smith, of the US, at 8pm in the Palacio, and Salsa Bands on the Plaza stage, at 10:30pm.

If only I could stay up that late.