COVID 19 notice:

Due to virus-related border crossing restrictions and health risks related to public gatherings, the 2020 Ambos Nogales festival will be postponed.  Please check back in 2021 for re-scheduling information.

The Arts Festival “Ambos Nogales 2020” will be held from October 17-25 in the sister cities of Nogales, Arizona, and Nogales, Sonora (Mexico).  “Ambos Nogales (translation: “Both Nogales”) is the term locals use to describe the community on both sides of the “fence” delineating the border between Mexico and the U.S. through which residents pass frequently for work, study, shopping, or to see relatives across the border.  The celebration will feature music by local bands and musicians as well as guest artists of multiple genres, a film festival, art exhibits, crafts from the Borderlands region, and traditional cuisine. Visitors to the festival can explore the natural beauty of nearby Patagonia State Park, Peña Blanca Lake, Parker Canyon Lake, and Coronado National Forest, or the Wine Country of Sonoita-Elgin, located 20 miles east of Nogales. This region of North America, sometimes called the “Sky Islands” because of the way mountain ranges jut into the sky from the high desert, is among the most bio-diverse places in the world and features hundreds of migratory and year-round bird species as well as many other species of wildlife. The Sky Islands are part of the northernmost range of many southern species, and the southernmost range of numerous northern species, and are a popular destination for ornithologists, herpetologists, and nature lovers of all ages, some of whom will be on hand during the Festival to lead nature tours.

As the specifics of the Festival develop we will update this website, so please check back from time to time!

Ambos Nogales 2020 featured musicians:  (more coming soon!)

Grammy nominated D.J.s Pepe Mogt and Ramon Bostich from the Nortec Collective:  Internationally celebrated  “BOSTICH + FUSSIBLE” emerged from the burgeoning electronic scene in Tijuana and were  founding members of the renowned Nortec Collective.  They perform a fusion of Mexico’s Norteño genre (“from the North”) and Techno.

Scott Huckabay, Apache-American guitarist and composer.  Winner of BAM magazine’s Guitarist of the Year competition.  Scott’s original music is an inspired and eclectic mix of world music and other influences.  Check him out in Wikipedia!

Homero Cerón (principal percussionist of the Tucson Symphony) will be joined by Tucson Symphony brass players and friends who form the New Paradigm Chamber Artists for Aaron Copland’s “Fanfare” — an international performance with Timpani in the United States and a brass choir “across the fence” in  Mexico!

Evan Kory (Nogales born, Juilliard trained concert pianist) An international artist of Mexican and Lebanese descent, Evan is a favorite of audiences in Nogales and many other locations around the world.

John Haines-Eitzen, cellist, Global Music Awards gold medal winner in 2018 and member of the Philadelphia Orchestra from 1995-2005, John is currently Senior Lecturer and Artist in Residence at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, and a part-year resident of Portal, Arizona.

Bridging Our Common Humanity

To open the 2020 festival, brass bands of musicians from the U.S. and Mexico will perform Aaron Coplands “Fanfare,” a stunning 4-minute work of majestic power and beauty. Originally entitled “Fanfare for the Common Man,” the piece has an interesting history, and has been performed by groups ranging from Emerson, Lake, and Palmer to the New York Philharmonic. If your band or orchestra would like to join the festivities with a parallel performance of Fanfare in your local community, please contact the Borderlands International Music Festival by visiting our “contact” page, where you can also sign up to receive occasional festival updates.

“There is no Them, there is only Us”
–Luís Alberto Urrea