Celebration seems to be a national past time in Mexico. Not many days go by without some sort of parade, music, dancing and pageantry. Today, the first Friday in March, is the traditional celebration of the beginning of Christianity in Mexico. The name for this particular feast is "The Lord of the Conquest".
Ricardo and I were in "El Jardíne" (the beautiful park in the center of town) when the evening festivities began. The photo you see below is of one of the many parades. This particular one is coming down Canal Street, and behind the marvelously colorful costumed dancers were banners, crosses and other symbols of Christianity. The next two photos present an opportunity for you to see what the streets of San Miguel looks like. It is a very lovely town.
The photos that you see in this blog were taken by Rick. In the picture above, he is perched in "El Jardíne", which is located a number of steps over street level. I am at street level, walking along with the paraders and taking videos with the new flip video camera that Jessica gave us for Christmas. I thought I was getting some wonderful footage but...apparently I didn't know how to work it very well, and got nothing of this parade. Darn.
As evidenced by the photo above, there are venders walking through the streets and around the park during each and every festivity and all weekends, selling colorful balloons and other toys. It's always a very festive atmosphere.
Here's photo of some of the dancers doing their thing on another side of "El Jardíne". We were actually surrounded by various forms of music, dancing and parades on all four sides, and each group of drummers and dancers had their own particular costumes and styles.
The above photo is actually the best one of all. At the far end you can see what looks like smoke in front of an altar - and that's exactly what it was. The dancers and drummers were openly paying tribute to their Christian beliefs with incense. In the background you can see one of the many churches in San MIguel, one of the oldest. This photo shows just how packed with bystanders this particular event was.
I did end up getting some really good video footage of some of the drumming and dancing, and almost posted it on You Tube. But then I began to worry about privacy laws, and didn't want to risk being sued by any of the dancers whose faces I captured so clearly. I need to find out more about posting things like that. If anyone can clue me in, I'd sure appreciate it.
I hope you enjoyed this little presentation of "The Lord of the Conquest". Lent will be beginning soon, which means that the joyful celebration that proceeds it is around the corner. I wrote about and posted photos of the "Los Cascarones" celebration last year, but will no doubt do the same again this year. Expect some great photos.
Adios, mís amigos. Judhit
I did end up getting some really good video footage of some of the drumming and dancing, and almost posted it on You Tube. But then I began to worry about privacy laws, and didn't want to risk being sued by any of the dancers whose faces I captured so clearly. I need to find out more about posting things like that. If anyone can clue me in, I'd sure appreciate it.
I hope you enjoyed this little presentation of "The Lord of the Conquest". Lent will be beginning soon, which means that the joyful celebration that proceeds it is around the corner. I wrote about and posted photos of the "Los Cascarones" celebration last year, but will no doubt do the same again this year. Expect some great photos.
Adios, mís amigos. Judhit
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