July Festivals in San Miguel de Allende

In July, in San Miguel de Allende there are three main festivals:

• July 4^th Our Lady of Refuge or Nuestra Senora del Refugio

• July 16^th Our Lady of Mount Carmel or Nuestra Senora del Carmen

• July 31 to August 17^th Festival de Musica de Camara

 

Our Lady of Refuge

 

July 4^th is the celebration of Our Lady of Refuge or Nuestra Señora del Refugio. She is Patroness of California and parts of Mexico. A Franciscan missionary, Francisco Diego Garcia y Moreno, also known as the first Bishop of Baja, California proclaimed Nuestra Senora del Refugio as Patron in 1843 at the Mission in Santa Clara in Alta California. He proclaimed that they name the great Mother of God in her title of ‘del Refugio’, the principal patroness of their diocese. In 1981, it was the California Catholic Conference of Bishops that petitioned the Vatican Congregation for the Sacraments and Divine Worship to observe the Feast of Our Lady of Refuge on July 5^th of each year. This was approved and signed by Archbishop Giuseppe Casoria in 1982 in an official document.

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Our Lady of Mount Carmel or Nuestra Senora del Carmen

 

July 16^th honors Our Lady of Mount Carmel. According to ancient chronicles, on this day, in 1251, in England, the Virgin Mary appeared and gave the Scapular to Simon Stock. “In other words, that St. Simon Stock was given certain supernatural assurances:

• The special protection of the Blessed Virgin for his whole order and for all those wearing the Carmelite habit
• Special aid, especially in the hour of death, to those wearing the habit in her honour throughout life, so that they should be preserved from hell. Indirectly, this promise is extended to all who from devotion to the Mother of God should wear her habit or badge and be thus as if it were affiliated to the Carmelite Order.” Wikipedia

This festival is celebrated in all over Mexico, though there are major celebrations in Campeche, Veracruz and Mexico City.

 

 

The Festival de Música de Cámara de San Miguel de Allende

 

The festival de Musica de Camara de San Miguel de Allende or Chamber Music Festival is one of the most renowned in Mexico and Latin America. It was founded in 1979 by a group of Mexicans and foreign residents with the idea of creating a chamber music festival – based on the internationally famous festivals of Spoleto, South Carolina, Edinburgh, Scotland and Marlboro, Vermont.

The National Institution of Fine Arts (INBA) enthusiastically joined them and thus the Festival began with a single weekly concert given by the Fine Arts Quartet. The rest of the week, they gave advanced classes to young Mexican scholarship students who wanted to refine their musical skills.

Now in its’ 30^th season, the Festival de Musica de Camara de San Miguel de Allende draws more than 7,000 people to this unique event. They continue to offer young, advanced music students, the opportunity to attend workshops and master classes throughout the two week event. These workshops and classes are given by the quartet-in-residence that participates annually in the Festival, as well as the performing groups. To date, more than 1,000 students have participated in the Student Program.

What was only a dream in 1979, has been made reality by the Festival de Música de Cámara – it is now firmly established and is recognized, internationally as one the more important chamber music festivals in the world.

For more information and calendar of events go to: http://www.chambermusicfestival.com

 

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