Traditions

The Day of the Dead is November 2nd. But there are many events before that date, including the Thriller Dance, parades, music, races and games. But the 2nd is the biggest event. I celebrated it at the Ajijic Plaza. It lasted for many hours. Here are just a few photos from it. Face painting Different booths were set up to paint faces of the crowd. I arrived around three in the afternoon and there...

The Dia de Muertos, Day of the Dead, celebrations started a week earlier in Ajijic with the Thriller Dance.  These events are not just one day but many days. Each town has it's own celebrations. Besides the Thriller Dance, Ajijic has an outdoor movie showing on the malecon, cemetery tours, parades, memorial altars, life size catrinas, town dance, lighting of skulls near the plaza, live entertainment and...

Another Thrill the World Dance took place last weekend. On October 26th, 2019. This year, like last year, it was held on the Ajijic malecon. In the beginning, it was held on the Ajijic plaza but there wasn't enough space. Now, the performers first go to the cultural center on the plaza for makeup. This takes an entire afternoon. After everyone has been transformed into zombies, they walk to the basketball...

San Antonio Tlayacapan is a small town with a population around five thousand people. It is located between Chapala and Ajijic and has been established since the mid fifteen hundreds as an agricultural community. Their Independence celebration took place one week after Ajijic's. Drummers Their parade took place on Sunday morning, September 22nd.  The night before the parade, there was music in the...

The final day of the festivities was on Independence Day, Monday, September the 16th at ten in the morning. That means exactly ten in the morning. One year I arrived a few minutes late and it was already two blocks down the road. This parade always starts on time. I wonder if it has anything to do with all the teachers involved. Mother and child The parade is mostly made up of children marching with...

The final event of the week long Independence Day celebrations was the Combate de Flores (flower war). It was held in the Ajijic plaza at six in the evening on September the 16th, Independence Day. Princess visiting War of the flowers couldn't have been further from it's name. It was a peaceful, low key gathering, especially appreciated after the previous sometimes overwhelming events. Maybe because...

The Independence Day (Fiestas Patrias) celebrations went on for over a week. Starting September 7th with the coronation of the queen and ending September 16th, Independence Day, with the parade. I only made it to a few of them. I missed the flag raising ceremony at six in the morning, the coronation of the queen, the ballet folkloric, the reading of El Grito proclamation at eleven thirty at night, the...

The 2019 Globos festival was held in the Ajijic soccer field on September 8th. You can see the black sky behind Access Lake Chapala's angel globo. Every year there is a possibility of rain. This is the rainy season. But this year there were just a few clouds. It was good luck. Not good luck for this angel. It quickly caught on fire. Angel globo It takes a lot of people to launch a globo. If it isn't...

The Rebozo Parade (shawl parade) is one of the first events in the week long celebrations of Mexican Independence Day. Independence Day is on September 16th. It marks the beginning of the revolt from the Spanish born ruling class. El Grito (the cry) was read on September 16, 1810 by Father Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla. The war ended eleven years later on August 24, 1821. Mexican flags Mexican flag...

La Verbena del pasado, translated into English, means the Street party/dance/celebration/event of the past. And this event celebrates all the food cooked in the past in Mexico. Food that is cooked the traditional way, over an open fire and served in the traditional red clay dishes. Ajijic plaza This all happens at the Ajijic plaza. It is the beginning of Semana Santa, Easter week, Holy Week. It...