10 Years of Epic Parties in Puerto Vallarta
In the past ten years, I have been to some epic parties with off-the-chart shenanigans like recreating scenes in a pop-up of Night of the Iguana, complete with a bus, or a dinosaur-sized alebrije jostling dancers for space during a street party, or the time 700 people showed up over three hours to see what new artworks were hanging on the walls at Art Vallarta, while sampling free cakes off a round banquet table laden with choice pasteles of every description.
All of the above (and many more) were created by Nathalie Herling, the Director of ART VallARTa up on Pilitas, and the ART VallARTa Museo. If she wasn’t already wearing more hats than humanly possible, she’d be a shoo-in as Best Party Planner of the Year!
Her latest, a fundraiser for her Museum, turned her art school into a warren of inviting themed spaces. One – a workshop full of kilns and porcelain and clay turned into a space eerily quiet, subtly lit, and devoted to silent auction items. Another space, usually full of Nathalie’s pots from all over Mexico, had a tequila cocktail bar and a seafood sampler station. A dark and mysteriously lit living room had overstuffed armchairs and a plethora of old books and antiques; many people started and ended the night in that room – it had its own staffed bar and waiters. Why climb stairs?
An upstairs windowed salon was full of light bouncing off trays of vegetarian offerings, fresh fruit tarts, and chocolate-drizzled wafers; food tables were in every corner and were kept replenished with fresh all night long.
White-shirted/black-bowtied wait staff served ‘wedges’ of corn on the cob on one floor of Art Vallarta. Messy but delish.
I saw singer Yoalli Guerrero Ortiz (Hedwig and the Angry Inch), microphone in hand, on her way, pushing through the crowds, heading somewhere in the cavernous building to entertain. I never did find out where she sang. I was distracted from looking for her while I was chatting with friends when one of Mexico’s finest tenors, Jorge Echeagaray, from Mazatlan, burst into O Sole Mio, then followed that attention-grabber with the brilliant, difficult aria Nessun Dorma from Turandot that left people sobbing in his wake as he slowly walked through the room. Seeing him again for hugs and listening to his magnificent voice was extraordinary.
So, that’s how it’s done, people. Next time you see an event happening at either ART VallARTa or the Arte Vallarta Museo (like the First Saturday of every Month Fiesta) – go! I can guarantee that there will be something pleasantly non-conformist and unusual going on. Add wine, good food, and live entertainment, and you have the makings for a splendid evening.
Come back in the morning for a full report on Opening Night of Tony Award winner Levi Kreis at The Palm Cabaret and Bar, dear friend Gabe’s Open House and Francie’s Vallarta Girls School fundraiser at Los Mangos Library.