To celebrate Puerto Vallarta’s 106th anniversary as a municipality and 56th as a city, on Monday, the Vallartense Institute of Culture (IVC) inaugurated a traveling photography exhibition in the Plaza de Armas (main plaza). The exhibition showcases the city’s history from its founding to present day.
The opening ceremony included speeches from interim mayor Francisco José Martínez Gil, the director of the Vallartense Institute of Culture Brenda Janeth Díaz Flores, and City Chronicler Juan Manuel Gómez Encarnación. A video featuring prominent Vallarta residents sharing their experiences of the city was also presented.
Díaz Flores emphasized the importance of the exhibition in educating younger generations about Puerto Vallarta’s past. She highlighted the cobblestone streets, tile roofs, and the communal atmosphere of the past, when residents would gather in the main square and ladies would socialize as they bathed and washed clothes in the Cuale River.
Gómez Encarnación provided a historical overview, tracing Puerto Vallarta’s evolution from its origins as Puerto Las Peñas to its current status as a major tourist destination.
The interim mayor stressed the exhibition’s ability to capture the essence of Puerto Vallarta through “historical, exciting and revealing narratives.” He emphasized the importance of preserving the city’s history and involving residents in sharing their experiences.
“All of this,” he said, “with the sole purpose of keeping alive and continuing to enrich our unfathomable and exciting history, involving people who share with us their experiences, memories, ideas and feelings. This is the story of our history told out loud.”
The exhibition will travel to various municipal delegations and agencies throughout Puerto Vallarta. The tour kicks off on Thursday, May 16th, in Ixtapa. The exhibition will then travel to Las Mojoneras (May 18th), Las Palmas (May 20th), Boca de Tomatlán (May 22nd), Las Juntas (May 24th), and El Pitillal (May 29th). On May 31st it will return to El Centro, just in time for the city’s founding anniversary celebrations.