Weeklong San Francisco festival shows off the best of Mexico

SAN FRANCISCO -- The grand opening of a festival to show off the best of Mexico's arts, culture and ideas is planned Wednesday night in San Francisco, according to event organizers.

The festival, Mex I Am: Live it to Believe It, began last Sunday but officially gets started with the grand opening featuring ballet and operatic performances Wednesday at 7 p.m. at the Palace of Fine Arts.

Also, from 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. today at the Palace of Fine Arts, world-renowned Mexican professionals will be giving short talks on neuroscience, food, physics and film.

All talks will be in English and each speaker will give their talk in language anyone can understand, event organizers said.

The festival continues through this coming Sunday, organizers said.

The festival's program of music starts Thursday at 7:30 p.m. at the SF JAZZ Center and sculptures of Mexican artist Rivelino will be on display on The Embarcadero, according to organizers.

Residents and visitors can attend other events, see more art and taste Mexican food during the week. More information can be found at www.mexiam.net.