Sailfest is an annual two-week event that takes place in the city of Zihuatanejo on Mexico’s west coast. Each February, cruisers come together and participate in the festivities to raise money in support of local children’s education. The plans for 2025 are on the calendar and cruisers are invited to take note!

The Sailfest mission is to “create a more promising future for the least advantaged children of Zihuatanejo by providing safe, healthy and sustainable schools that promote a positive learning environment.” The activities that support this mission will include sailing (of course) in the form of daily cruises, a sail parade, and the Rally Round the Rock race, together with daily onshore activities such as auctions, concerts, parades (on and off the water), a champagne breakfast … there’s even a chili cook-off. The events are designed not just for fun, but also to encourage those who can to give generously to the funds that support the children.

To give you an idea of Sailfest’s reach, this year’s event was “a huge success,” with every event surpassing the previous year’s attendance and almost all events surpassing that year in revenue. “We had over 200 volunteers and more wanting to come on-board next year,” Sailfest reports on its website. “It has been our hope for years to involve more local volunteers and this year, of the 15 committees involved in organizing Sailfest, 1/3 of these events are now being chaired by Mexican volunteers, and together we all helped Sailfest net just over 2 million pesos!”

Among the activities is a visit to schools that receive money from Sailfest. During this year’s event, cruisers visited Colegio de Bachilleres, a school that was built from the ground up with Sailfest/Porlosniños funds and donations. Porlosniños (Por Los Niños) is the foundation created by Sailfest and the founding organization to administer the money raised.

Aside from Colegio de Bachilleres, Sailfest has funded numerous projects over the past 20+ years:

New construction and refurbishments — 175 projects that include new and repaired classrooms, kitchens, bathrooms, playgrounds and multi-purpose covered outdoor spaces; 46 new and existing schools.

Scholarships and sponsorships — assist smart, motivated students to fulfill their educational dreams, often cut short due to poverty.

Nutrition — “Rice and Beans” program feeds up to 129 students a day at Casa Para Niños del Pacifico. That’s approximately 30,000 meals a year.

Sailfest was built by volunteers, and volunteers are a large part of what makes the annual event a success. Now is the time to put your name on the list to volunteer for one of the many roles that help bring everything and everyone together, to help the underprivileged children of Zihua to a brighter future.

Get all the details at zihuatanejo-sailfest.com.