Abre El Corazón

A Cacao Ceremony by the Fire

A space to open the heart, reconnect with yourself, and share in tribe.

There's something about fire and drums that makes a room — or in this case, an open lakeside acre — feel less like a venue and more like a gathering point. That was the intention behind Abre El Corazón, a cacao ceremony organized by ExplorArte at Tonalí Lake House, open to anyone drawn to the fire.

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Guests arrived to find the evening built around three things: the fire, the drums, and cacao brought from Peru, poured and led by Marianiilla Francheschi — a coach, therapist, and speaker who framed the evening as ceremonial medicine, in the tradition ExplorArte has built its community around. The gathering leaned into rhythm as much as ritual — Tambores y Saberes, drums and shared knowledge, running alongside the ceremony itself.

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What ExplorArte creates in these evenings isn't a performance to watch. It's a circle to sit in — open to first-timers and regulars alike, built, as the invitation put it, from love rather than obligation. Tonalí's role was simple: open the grounds, let the fire and the circle take the night from there.

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Thank you to ExplorArte and Marianiilla Francheschi for bringing Abre El Corazón to Tonalí, and to every guest who sat by the fire and opened their heart to the circle.

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You come as many. You leave as one. The Lake Restores.

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Have a gathering only you could design? Get in touch to bring it to Tonalí.