Festival Sayulita 2015

Photo by Derrick Lundy

Once again Festival Sayulita has come and gone this year and it was bigger and better than it was last year.  This year brought more variety to the event with lots of movies, a surf contest, food pairings, fun run, kids events, spirits, nightly entertainment in the Plaza and an outdoor concert.

Our family spent three nights on the beach watching movies.  Two of the nights we watched surf movies as the waves crashed yards away in the darkness.  Oney Anwar Chasing the Dream and Tierra de Patagones. Both were pretty good but the high point of the movie watching was the movie Boxtrolls.  The movie was recently nominated for an Academy Award for "Best Animated Feature".  It resembles Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer TV Christmas specials of old but only 50 years more modern.  Very cool visually.  There were many venues for movie watching throughout town but movies on the beach were free for everyone.  One of the creators of the movie, Mark Shapiro, was even in town and held a Q and A session after the movie.

The Festival added a day for kids which was a big hit for locals as the Plaza became packed with kids, music, performers and parents and it was like a big block party for the community.              

Photo by Derrick Lundy

Even in a small town you don't see everyone all the time but it was great to meet up and meet new people and see friends.

The Festival had a World Class long board contest as well.  Men and women competitors from all over the world came to town and the waves cooperated.  The first day of competition was held on a Friday while the kids were in school so Ashley and I parked on the beach with friends to watch and cheer on local surf talent.

The biggest event of the Festival was the outdoor concert featuring Kongos and Dirty Heads.  I've become a fan of Dirty Heads in the last year and to have them come to our little pueblo was really cool.  I made my way up to the front of the stage.  Close enough that they may have even wondered who the old guy singing along with them was.  The Festival organizers knew I was pretty stoked that Dirty Heads was headlining the concert so the got me this awesome Festival poster signed by the band.

My autographed Festival poster

In only it's second year, Festival Sayulita has become an event we look forward to.  Last year was good and this year was better.  It is very well run, everything the organizers do is professional and it shows.  It is very community friendly since it provides plenty of free events and activities for all ages along with quality paid events for those who want to attend a larger variety of events.  I have to believe it has been received well by the community as a whole as far as how it is run and impacts town since it is bringing folks in during a time that may be a bit slower as far as visitors.  We can't wait to see what the Festival brings next year.