The fair that always comes to   town as one of the attractions of Carnaval Mazatlan has opened and is going full steam ahead with its rides and shows. One big curiosity is a showing of the biggest and smallest bicycles in the world.

Carnaval’s carnival occupies the empty lot next door to Sam’s Club and opens its doors at 6:00 p.m. nightly, and the price of admission is 20 pesos. It will remain through Feb. 26.

Laura Rojo Farber, who is celebrating her 25th anniversary  as Queen of the Juegos Florales (flower games) has pursued the arts in her own right.

Gallery goers can see the results of her work in an exposition of her photography that opens at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 16, in the Angela Peralta Gallery, upstairs over the portico of the Angela Peralta Theater.

Admission to the show is free.

Lucie Fortin, a Canadian from Quebec who has lived in Mazatlan for the past eight years, will inaugurate an exposition of her photographs at 7:00 p.m. Monday, Feb. 13, at the Mazatlan Art Museum

Using Mazatlan as a jumping off point, Fortin has branched out to points all over Mexico in pursuit of her nature photographs. The results will be on display in this show.

The public is welcome, free of charge. The museum is located at the corner of Sixto Osuna and Venustiano Carranza, half a block behind Olas Altas.

Good old down-home trad jazz thanks to the Cats ‘n’ Jammer Jazz Band from Sacramento, California, is spreading out to the far reaches of the state of Sinaloa.

The Dixieland band was brought here originally in 2009 for a one-night stand by pianist-leader Ken Woods who lives in Mazatlan part of the year. The group was so warmly received that after two years of playing one-nighters here in Mazatlan, they agreed to a two-night run this year at the Shrimp Bucket restaurant in Olas Altas.

But that doesn’t mean that Dixie is confined exclusively to Mazatlan. The first year here, they played a gig  to wild applause in Cosala. And this year, on Sunday Feb. 5, they will head south to serenade the folks in Teacapan, a seaside village in the municipality of Escuinapa.

How Dr. Juan Manuel Lerma, Escuinapa’s municipal president, heard about the Cats ‘n’ Jammers is anybody’s guess. Maybe it was through prodding by his municipal tourism director,  Eden Valenzuela. However it happened, they decided not to let the opportunity pass them by to hire the Cats for a gig at La Tambora Beach, a mile short of the town limits of Teacapan, after their appearances in Mazatlan.

The two officials told the press they are hoping for a good turnout of both locals and foreign visitors who can mingle together with the music in ways that the language barrier sometimes prevents.

A 150-peso ticket buys entrance to the Tambora Restaurant on the beach, a meal of various kinds of seafood, a beer and all the Dixieland jazz you can handle. The party starts at 1:00 p.m. If this experiment in what Valenzuela referred to as "cross-cultural synergy” succeeds, folks who live in or visit the Teacapan area may expect a second annual Dixieland jam session next year -- if they can lure the Cats back again.

A futuristic multimedia spectacle that includes laser effects, music and robotic-controlled lighting will be inaugurated on the first night of Carnaval, Thursday Feb. 16, by Mazatlan’s Mayor Alejandro Higuera.

Titled “Empire of the Seas,” it will take place at the Carpa Olivera location at the north end of Olas Altas, with the inaugural set for 7:15 p.m.

The sound and light show will be presented every night during Carnaval. It consists of a mega-screen of water 30 meters wide and 10 meters high, formed by the release of sea water by a pump system. Against this backdrop images will be projected that tell the story of the Empire of the Seas, starring Neptune himself.

From the Friday evening through Shrove Tuesday the show will be screened at 10:30 every night. It can be seen by those who pay the entrance fee to the gigantic street dance and fiesta taking place along the shoreline from Olas Altas and Paseo Claussen nearly to Calle Zaragoza.