Guanajuato International Film Festival

I've had a number of emails asking about travel to Guanajuato, mostly questions about cost, and what's it like to travel there.
The first thing I looked up was air fares. I tried plugging in dates for next years Guanajuato International Film Festival that starts off in San Miguel and ends in Guanajuato. I choose this event for a couple of reasons. First this is an event that I've wanting to experience, and as it is an international event, it attracts people from all over the world. Second it starts off in San Miguel, which for the Mexico new comer is a pretty easy transition. And last, it ends up in Guanajuato. Where San Miguel has a large expat community that has greatly influenced how the city feels, Guanajuato does not. Yes people from many countries live in GTO; my favorite sushi place is there, but it is a Mexican town, a little rough around the edges.
The GIFF was to far out in the future to get ticket prices for, so instead I plugged in dates from the end of January to the middle of March and came up with the following numbers. Price is round trip single person.
Reno, Nv to Leon, Mx (this is the airport you would fly into for both GTO, or SM)
1 stop $750-890
2 stops 629-890
San Jose, Ca to Leon
1 stop $430-750
2 stops 430-640
Calgary, Canada to Leon
1 stop $750-850
2 stops 700-950
Saint Louis, Missouri to Leon
1 stop $607-860
2 stops 607-670
London to Leon
2 stops $1288-1600

After ticket prices I looked for home rentals on the site VRBO in the city of San Miguel and came up with some really interesting places that range greatly in price, and location.
I found 2 bedrooms, with 2 baths for $125 a night, and a 3 bedroom, 3.5 baths place for $120 a night.
I also found some larger nicer places that have 3-4 bedrooms, 3-4 baths and go between $150-300 a night. Pretty much all of them come with a maid.
As far as the cost for the IFF. From what I can gather all of the movies are free, there is something about getting a wriest band that you pick-up, but I've heard the people at theater door will not even be checking for that.
Then there is food. In GTO I would expect to pay 9 US dollars to 20 USD for a really good dinner, a meal that would cost you another 10 USD in Reno. For me, once I get to GTO, I spend about 30 USD a day, if I eat out every meal. Of course buying food at the market and cooking at home is much cheaper, and then there's the experience factor of shopping. From what I can see San Miguel is similar in restaurant prices to GTO, though I have limited experience there, but again if you have a kitchen you can save greatly by shopping and cooking for yourself.
The one area that could cost you a bit of money is shopping for gifts. Hand made crafts are everywhere, and made from a variety of materials - wood, stone, metal, and glass. So much of it is beautiful, and reasonably priced, that you end up wanting it all, and then you have to pay for an extra bag going home. No matter because the same item would be three times as much, if you could find it, in the states.
Lastly concerning traveling to this part of the world. It's safe. I've been traveling to Mexico for the last twenty-five years, and besides a couple of jerky taxi drivers, I've had nothing but great experiences. The people are helpful and friendly, especially if you try to communicate, speak, to them in Spanish.
Looking back up the page I've noticed that I neglected to put in the dates for the GIFF 2014. Though I seem to remember seeing that it started July 25th I can't find that date again, and the web site for the 2014 event hasn't been posted yet. But here is a link to the 2013 event so you can get an idea of what it's all about. http://www.giff.mx/?lang=en
I hope this helps you out. Let me know what you think.

What's next for me...the Rodeo Beach 50k, December, 14th.