Wednesday, Oct. 13th, sees the start of El Cervantino in Guanajuato, the second largest international cultural festival in the world, which is expected to attract nightly crowds of over 76,000 visitors for this year’s Bicentennial Independence edition; it ends on November 7th.

Mexico is not the only Latin-American country to be celebrating its Bicentennial Independence celebrations this year, Chile, Colombia and Venezuela are also celebrating their’s so this year they have been invited to take part in the festivities as ‘Guests of Honour.’

Meanwhile, there are also three invited Mexican states taking part in this year’s edition of El Cervantino: Chihuahua, Michoachan and Queretaro, in each of which there will be activities related to the main celebrations being held in the capital city of Guanjuato State.

This year, the organizers of this mega cultural event are hoping to surpass the figure of 75 million pesos gained from last year’s festivities for the local community, and have placed an emphasis on open-air activities and the young for this, the 38^th edition of El Cervantino.

Second only in size to the Edinburgh International Festival, in Scotland’s capital city, this year if you visit El Cervantino, you’ll be able to take part in competitions in which the main prize is a trip to the Scottish capital next year for the largest cultural event of the world.

With regard to the different acts taking part in El Cervantino, the list is enormous, in fact, on the official International Cervantino Festival Web site, there are no less than 24 pages of activities ranging from acoustic, to rock, to electronic music.

Theatre acts run from the baroque to opera, and dance from folklore to modern, the only way to really appreciate what’s on offer is to attend the festivities. There are also book presentations and poetry workshops, cinematic presentations and much more…

To give you an idea of the size of the celebrations, the municipal authorities of the state capital, Guanajuato, have been granted an additional 8 million pesos to be used during the four-week Festival period just to provide the necessary services to the visiting public, this from the Guanajuato State government.

Countries with representations at the Festival include: Argentina, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Croatia, Cuba, France, Germany, Holland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Lithuania, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Spain, Switzerland, Taiwan, the United Kingdom and Venezuela, as well, of course, as a long list of home grown artists.

If you are planning to attend El Cervantino, you can download a PDF program here.

With a view to increasing visits to Mexico from the UK, Mexico’s Tourism Board has teamed up with the London Restaurant Festival (LRF), helping them to sign up the British capital’s top Mexican restaurants for this, the second edition, which began yesterday and is being celebrated throughout the capital in hundreds of the city’s finest restaurants.

In interview with Eatoutmagazine.com, Simon Davies, a founding partner and director of the Festival, commented that “Mexican food is full of vibrancy and life – it’s about a celebration of great ingredients, flavours and tastes. We can’t wait for that vibrancy to spill over into the festival period.”

For his part, Manuel Diaz Cebrian, regional director for Europe at  Mexico’s Tourism Board in the UK, added: “Alongside the welcoming and positive attitude that identifies people from Mexico, our gastronomy is one of the most important assets we have as a magnet to attract visitors. The variety of our cuisine continues to surprise even well-travelled visitors and is one of the most important reasons for repeat visits to our country.”

The Festival is being celebrated city wide for a fortnight, from October 4^th to the 18^th, and consists of special menus being offered in the participating restaurants. Among the Mexican restaurants taking part in the Festival are: Boho Mexica, Cantina Laredo, Santo, Mestizo, Benito’s Hat, Chilango, Taqueria, Tacuba, Café Pacífico and La Perla. This list is not exhuastive.

As well as the fortnight of special LFR menus, Mexican food will also be one of the highlights of the London Restaurant Festival Market, to be held at the Old Spitalfields Market from October 11^th -13^th and October 15^th -17^th, which is known locally as one of the crown jewels of London’s East End. Entrance is free.

The grand finale for this event is the award ceremony for the London Restaurant Festival Awards, which will take place on the last day of the Festival Market and is to be attended by some of the most influential people in London’s restaurant industry.

There will be eight awards presented on the night, four of which will be for the best Festival Menus, one for each pricing category, each of the categories being voted for by the public, via toptable.com, between the 4^th and 14^th of October.

So, if you’re in London, get yourself along for a real finger-licking treat. If you’ve never had Mexican food before, you’ll soon see what I mean! You will also have the opportunity to buy some of the very best Mexican cuisine to take home and impress your friends with.

Mexico’s Tourism Board became involved with the project as it believes the diversity of the country’s cuisine is one of the most important vehicles for promoting Mexico throught the world. Indeed, the quality and range of Mexican food on offer in the country’s capital earned it the classification, by Forbes magazine, as the fourth-favourite culinary destination in the world, behind only Paris, Rome and Tokyo.

Old Spitalfields Market Address:

According to the local Tourism Minister for Mexico City (DF), Alejandro Rojas Díaz Durán, the economic income from the patriotic festivals in honour of the Bicentennial of the Independence and the Centenary of the Mexican Revolution will provide the city with an estimated total of 3 billion pesos.

The local authorities estimate that, over the festive period, the city will welcome around 430,000 visitors, including national and international visitors who, together with the local population, will mean the events being held should have an estimated 1.2 million visitors, collectively.

Among the special events taking place for the celebrations are plays, workshops, boxing, and many others. The main event, regarding the tourism sector is, without doubt, the first International Tourism Fair of the Americas (FITA), which will run from from Septemebr 23^rd to the 26^th and bring the festive period to a close.

During this period, it is expected that the hotels in the Historic Centre of the city will attain a 100% occupation level, whilst in the collection of 16 delegations that make up the world’s third largest city, the hope is that the hotel-occupation level will reach 70%.

Cancun is to host the International Contemporary Dance Festival: Mareanza Cancun 2010, from September 22nd to November 2nd with a truly international line-up of stars.

The event boasts dancers and choreographers from no less than 8 countries, among them dance companies from Argentina, France, Lithuania, Norway, Russia, Sweden and Venezuela, along with the renowned Mexican choreographers Vicente Silva, Fabienne Lachere and Laura Ríos.

As well as the chance to see some of the world’s most famous dance troupes in action, the event will also provide visitors with the opportunity to participate in dance workshops (40) ranging from ballet to hip-hop and contemporary styles, to mention but a few.

The event has been organized jointly by the Civil Association: Mareanza (hence the name) and Cancun’s Visitor and Conventions Office, as part of efforts to diversify the tourism offering at Mexico’s most-visited foreign tourism destination: Cancun. A definate must visit for dance fans from around the world!

Visitors to the Riviera Maya area will have the opportunity to attend a four-day jazz festival next month with stars such as John McClaughlin in attendance for this, the eighth edition of the Riviera Maya Jazz Festival, and the best news of all: IT’S FREE.

With a truly paradisiacal backdrop of one of the world’s most beautiful coastlines, the event will run from November 25-28 at the Tuluim Central Plaza.

However, there’s a taster session, on September 4th, at ‘Mamitas Beach Club,’ with the Araya-Orta Latin Jazz Quartet, Eddie Palmieri and India performing as of 7pm. To get the best spots you’ll have to be there when the doors open at 6pm.

Don’t miss your opportunity to attend this unforgetable fiesta of sun, ocean and music where you can mix and mingle with people from a whole host of countries in an excellent atmosphere, guaranteed. Last year the festival attracted over 50,000 people.