Festival of the Nao is Launched

(Acapulco, NA 2 November) The spectacular opening ceremony of the fourth Festival of the Nao took place yesterday, evoking the memory of those great galleons that sailed the “Spanish Main” from Acapulco to the Philippines and return. The bicentennial edition of this annual event brings together artists, historians and other visitors from 14 of the countries that participated in the famous sailing route: Philippines, China, Thailand, North and South Korea, India, Indonesia, Spain, Chile, Peru, Japan, Cyprus, Turkey and Vietnam. In his remarks, Mayor José Luis Ávila Sánchez said “The world’s most beautiful bay opens its arms to you in an offer of friendship, just as it did in the times of the galleons, which united America and the Orient, setting sail from Acapulco to the Philippines, leaving a trail of images and expressions which remain to this very day.”

The more than 500 in attendance at the Plaza de Armas of Fort San Diego heard about the more than 80 events planned in venues like the beaches, the Acapulco Center, the Juan Ruiz de Alarcón Theater in the Convention Center, the Teatro Domingo Soler, the Parque Papagayo auditorium, the “La Reina” park and Fort San Diego itself. The Acapulco Philharmonic offers a special concert on Friday, November 5 at 9:00 pm in the Convention Center. Other performers scheduled include Guadalupe Pineda Susana Harp, Erick del Castillo and the National Dance Company. This year for the first time, the festival has a website. It is Festival de la Nao. On October 31, the municipal government put a calendar of events on an interior page. It is the only public source of such information on the Internet, just in time.