Voices for Change Kicks Off
The last weekend of September, as we roll inexorably into the days preceding Vallarta’s Tourist Season, which traditionally begins on the first Sunday following American Thanksgiving and runs until the Sunday following Easter Sunday. Or, in real time, this Season starts November 30, 2025, and concludes April 12, 2026. We LOVE those tourists the best who come before and after those dates, because we can take care of them properly. In the thick of things, every single restaurant and hotel owner, and tour company operator, is working so hard that every last one of them questions their own sanity while trying to count all the money they are making. And then that money simply evaporates into thin air just before the end of Season, then it’s summertime again, and we are all broke.
It’s a vicious cycle, necessary only because nobody has figured out a way to make it snow year-round up north. Can someone please either get on that or send us buckets of money to get through those critical months while you snowbirds are sitting, luxuriating in your backyards?
A case in point of the constant need to reinvent ourselves is singer Luis Villanueva, who is now importing and selling coffee grown in his home state of Chiapas. Luis has lived in Vallarta for nearly a decade, and I have known him pretty much from day one, when his English was non-existent and he would sing anywhere, anytime, any song to get somebody to listen. Well, we did, and he has risen over the years of hard work to rest comfortably among Vallarta’s finest entertainers.
I was at La Catrina Cantina last night to watch the first in a new series he has introduced called Voices for Change. Luis acknowledges the need to give back, both personally and on behalf of other entertainers who are bombarded every year with requests to sing, dance, or perform for free by a myriad of local charities. Luis plans to do what he can, pro bono, of course, but will take it a step further and donate 20% of his earnings to various organizations with every performance this Season.
Twenty percent of the funds raised last night will be donated to the Vallarta School for Girls. Who better to share the stage with than Kevin-Anthony, a huge supporter and member of the School’s Board of Directors? Which, incidentally, has broken ground and is building a state-of-the-art school.
These two, in concert, have fun together and with the audience. Both are personable and huggable, and I am happy to call each one a dear and lovely friend.
Next Voices for Change is on Wednesday, October 01, at 6:30 pm. Alison Lo and Luis will be at La Catrina Cantina, singing, smiling, and supporting Vallarta Abuelos. Join them; there’s no cover, and they have loads of great popcorn.
It is a beautiful day out there. Enjoy, and I will catch you back here bright and early Monday morning.