Stumbling, perhaps accidentally, onto some Mexican village
fiesta may prove to be the highlight of your travels.
Everywhere, from the remotest Indian village to the most
sophisticated city suburb, will take at least one day off annually
to devote to partying. Usually it's the local saint's day, but many
fiestas have pre-Christian origins and any excuse - from harvest
celebrations to the coming of the rains - will do.
Traditional dances and music form an essential part of almost
every fiesta, and most include a procession behind some revered
holy image or a more celebratory secular parade with fireworks. But
the only rule is that no two will be quite the same. We've listed
the most famous, spectacular or curious in this guide, but there
are many others and certain times of year are fiesta time almost
everywhere.
Carnival , the week before Lent, is celebrated throughout
the Roman Catholic world, and is at its most exuberant in Latin
America. It is the last week of taking one's pleasures before the
forty- day abstinence of Lent, which lasts until Easter. Like
Easter, its date is not fixed, but it generally falls in February
or early March. Carnival is celebrated with costumes, parades,
eating and dancing, most spectacularly in Veracruz and Mazatlán,
and works its way up to a climax on the last day, Mardi Gras or
Shrove Tuesday, when the only thing the inhabitants of certain
other countries can manage is to toss the odd pancake.
The country's biggest holiday, however, is Semana Santa -
Holy Week - beginning on Palm Sunday and continuing until the
following Sunday, Easter Day. Still a deeply religious festival in
Mexico, it celebrates the resurrection of Christ, and has also
become an occasion to venerate the Virgin Mary, with processions
bearing her image a hallmark of the celebrations. During Semana
Santa, expect transport communications to be totally disrupted as
virtually the whole country is on the move, visiting family and
returning from the big city to their village of origin: you will
need to plan ahead if travelling then. Many places close for the
whole of Holy Week, and certainly from Thursday to Sunday.
Secular Independence Day (Sept 16) is in some ways more
solemn than the religious festivals with their exuberant fervour.
While Easter and Carnival are popular festivals, this one is more
official, marking the historic day in 1810 when Manuel Hidalgo y
Costilla issued the Grito (Cry of Independence) from his parish
church in Dolores, now Dolores Hidalgo, Guanajuato, which is still
the centre of commemoration today. You'll also find the day marked
in the capital with mass recitation of the Grito in the zócalo,
followed by fireworks, music and dancing.
The Day of the Dead is All Saints or All Souls' Day and
its eve (Nov 1-2), when offerings are made to ancestors' souls,
frequently with picnics and all-night vigils at their graves.
People build shrines in their homes to honour their departed
relatives, but it's the cemeteries to head for if you want to see
the really spectacular stuff. Sweetmeats and papier-mâché statues
of dressed up skeletons give the whole proceedings rather a gothic
air.
Christmas is a major holiday, and again a time when
people are on the move and transport booked solid for weeks ahead.
Gringo influence nowadays is heavy, with Santa Claus and Christmas
trees, but the Mexican festival remains distinct in many ways, with
a much stronger religious element (virtually every home has a
nativity crib). New Year is still largely an occasion to
spend with family, the actual hour being celebrated with the eating
of grapes. Presents are traditionally given on Twelfth Night or
Epiphany (Jan 6), which is when the three Magi of the Bible arrived
bearing gifts - though things are shifting into line with Yankee
custom, and more and more people are exchanging gifts on December
25. One of the more bizarre Christmas events takes place at Oaxaca,
where there is a public display of nativity cribs and other
sculptures made of radishes.