Mérida, Yucatán — At a dramatic press conference on the Paseo de Montejo, an annual hot-air balloon festival was announced.
El Festival Internacional de Cultura y Arte — FIGY, El Globo en Yucatán, will lift off Jan. 19-22, 2017 at the nascent Autodromo Yucatán race course off the Mérida-Progreso highway.
The balloons will be the centerpiece of a range of artistic and cultural events, just as a tethered, brightly colored globo anchored a press conference at the Monumento a la Patria.
For four days, a wide variety of cultural and artistic activities will include concerts, movies, plays, dance, music, fine arts, photography, science and technology, said the festival director, Karla Paola Medina Contreras.
Medina Contreras predicted an influx of more than 70,000 visitors to watch 60 balloon launches and 50 live concerts.
Medina Contreras is also founder and director of FIC Maya, the international festival of Maya Culture, and president of the Mérida Film Commission, which promotes filmmaking in Yucatán.
Tickets to FIGY can be purchased starting Friday at the Redicom music shop, Gran Plaza; Ópticas Espadas branches at Montejo, Plaza Altabrisa and Plaza Las Américas; and various ADO terminals.
Tickets are 65 pesos for adults and 45 pesos for children, people with disabilities or anyone with an INAPAM card. Proceeds will be allocated to social and cultural causes, say organizers.
