He Cervantino International Festival (FIC), which this Sunday closed its 53rd edition with the presentation of the ambitious Africa Express project on the Explanada de la Alhóndiga de Granaditas, remains consolidated as the most important multidisciplinary artistic meeting of its kind in Latin America and one of the most relevant in the world, especially for its theatrical and stage programming, given the nature of its origin in the Entremeses Cervantinos.
To say that the FIC remains is because it retains an important power of convocation for the population who, with the announcement of the details of each year, makes the decision to travel to the capital of Guanajuato and purchase entrance tickets for the festival activities in theaters, museums, cultural centers and public squares in this emblematic city of the Mexican Bajío.
To say that it remains is also to say that the cultural meeting, as one of the annual pinnacles for the work of promoting and disseminating culture and the arts from the federal government, has the obligation to maintain criteria, a level, a category of prosapia that convenes, that is pleased by its power of programmatic magnetism in a very broad interdisciplinary spectrum, ranging from the most exquisite and refined arts (qualified as such for practical terms) to the massive shows that reinforce a vision of culture that breaks with elitism and seeks its expansion.
It is for the above reasons that, as witnesses of the call “spirit festival”, its value is estimated as a great social catalyst and emblem, and it is considered that the statistical numbers of tourist presence, hotel occupancy, economic impact and attendance at ticketed events are necessary parameters, as the most reliable indicators of the immediate impact of the festival.
Therefore, it is necessary that the authorities who head the FIC organizing committee fulfill the obligation to see their work reflected in these parameters and inherently to disseminate them, review them, discuss them, establish points of opportunity, deficiencies and objectives for future editions.
Cervantino Festival
Present the figures and discuss them
The recently concluded version of the FIC threw out numbers in dribs and drabs, timidly?, in an eagerness, in accordance with what festival authorities, such as the director of Diffusion and Public Relations, Irma Ortega, mentioned that they should be delivered this Monday with final figures and not preliminary figures of parameters such as those listed above. All of the above is the result of a change in criteria regarding what was already a custom of the festival: the presentation of figures on the morning of the closing Sunday with the presence of authorities from all the organizing bodies, meaning federal, state, local governments and the University of Guanajuato.
Instead, a bulletin was distributed with scarce figures compared to the numbers available from previous editions, and a breakfast with the press was called, with the only presence of the spokespersons for each organizing body, where very little was said and little two-way interaction with media representatives was allowed.
The numbers are good
Through a bulletin, the Cervantino announced that during 17 days of activities a preliminary record could be verified – that is, with data to be added or verified – of the attendance at events organized by the FIC of about 330 thousand spectators, with the understanding that a person can be counted several times as a spectator.
This amount represents a significant growth in attendance at events of the great cultural meeting, compared to the information offered about the 2024 edition which, also with preliminary figures, announced the sum of just over 305 thousand spectators, this according to updated information provided by the current Diffusion and Public Relations office of the festival.
Now, it is necessary to indicate that the statistic of 330 thousand attendees to the recently concluded edition also considers the attendance of the events of the Cervantino Circuit, which is a programmatic extension program that, in addition to being carried out in 11 states of the Republic, extends to different municipalities of the host state, while it is unknown if the figure for 2024 also includes the addition of the Cervantino Circuit.
Finally, the state government, in that same document, estimated an economic benefit of 442.4 million pesos during the 17 days of the festival, also higher than that reported last year, with preliminary figures then also of 305 million pesos.
Hotel occupancy in the same period of time averaged 50% for this year, also up from 41% occupancy in the last edition.
No figure not to brag about.
Key data from the 2025 Cervantino International Festival
- 330 thousand event attendees
- 442 million pesos in spills
- 50% hotel occupancy
- 3,463 artists from 31 countries took part
- 473 artists were international
