While the Festival de Musica Barroca in San Miguel, Mexico focuses mainly on the music from the baroque era, throughout the years, people who attended it could also enjoy in some of the other festival activities. Being present in one of those only served to show that you belong to the higher echelon of the Mexican cultural society.
Nothing says this more than the Baroque Music Festival Gala Dinner. If you want to be someone and get noticed, you just have to get a ticket for this dinner. But, that is not all that easy. The dinner itself is always held in different historical locations, every year and is mostly reserved for the VIPs and the season ticket holders of the Festival itself. It is a very important part of the festival, since it is the chief fund-raising event of it and it represents the goodwill of the sponsors, supporters, as well as the whole community of San Miguel, Mexico. Every year, the dinner starts with a wine reception, followed by a silent auction (of which I’ll say a few words a bit later). During it, the guests are encouraged to enjoy the fine art presented to them as well as the hors d’ oeuvres, as well as mingle among each other. Then they will proceed to the dining area, where they will taste some of the finest meals and some excellent wine.
It is very hard to to get to the ticket, which makes it all the more prestigious. Most of the tickets are already reserved for the VIP guests and the season ticket holders, but 50 of the fastest individuals, who pre-register and pay the ticket in full can also be a part of this happening.
The silent auction is another important fundraiser of this festival and is a result of partnership between the Festival de Musica Barroca and the artists, antiquarians and galleries in Mexico. Basically, the artists who participate in it will donate a certain percentage of their work’s auctioned price to the Festival. Every year, one of the artists is selected, so that he can elaborate a poster image, which will than be used for the publicity of that year’s Festival.
In addition to the celebration of the San Miguel culinary variety, the Deliciosa! is also serving as a crucial fundraiser for the Festival’s Education Outreach program. This is a unique gastronomic journey as you go through the various restaurants of San Miguel and it presents their large diversity. The whole idea of the fundraising is to help the Melodia children’s music program.
Finally, the Sunset Soiree fundraiser is a chance for all the friends and supporters of the Festival de Musica Barroca to be brought together and enjoy one evening of amazing music. It always comes a day before the festival itself, so it serves as a little spoiler to what you can expect for that year’s festival as you enjoy listening to some light music.