Rocky Point Rock: A musical festival this fall will benefit science field station CEDO in Puerto Peñasco

click to enlarge Rocky Point Rock: A musical festival this fall will benefit science field station CEDO in Puerto Peñasco
Courtesy Photo
Sergio Mendoza with Quetzal Guerrero.

If you like sand, cerveza and Sergio Mendoza, you’ll want to be in Rocky Point at the end of September.

Orkesta Mendoza featuring Quetzal Guerrero will join Mariachi Nuevo Azteca, Salvador Duran, Golden Boots, Los Esplifs and Puerto Peñasco band Agua de Coco for a concert benefiting CEDO Intercultural, the longtime research lab on the shores of the Gulf of California.
The festival will take place over three nights from Sept. 30 to Oct. 2 at CEDO in Rocky Point, aka Puerto Peñasco. The beachside fishing village and tourist town is a four-hour drive from Tucson and Phoenix.

“I’m happy to be a part of the concert to benefit a great organization,” Mendoza told The Weekly. “CEDO has been doing really amazing work for over 40 years. We are super excited to bring our music to Puerto Peñasco for this special event.”

CEDO—which stands for Centro Intercultural de Estudios de Desiertos y Océanos, or the Intercultural Center for the Study of Deserts and Oceans—has been in operation for more than 40 years. Legions of researchers, students and visitors have passed past the iconic whale skeleton in front of its location in the dunes of housing development Las Conchas to learn more about the delicate ecosystem where the desert meets the sea.

The pandemic forced CEDO to close its doors for about two years, according to CEDO Executive Director Nelida Barajas Acosta. But the organization was able to develop a protocol to continue field work and a program with the local fishing community.

Acosta said that CEDO would be working on several programs in the future, including developing sustainable fisheries and aquaculture; community wellbeing; biodiversity conservation and citizen science; and education, including CEDO’s brand-new school.

“Now we are innovating on understanding the role that coastal ecosystems play on climate change adaptation,” Acosta said.

For more details, visit musicforthesea.mx.