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| Souvenir stand |
Most of the time, the fiesta goes hand in hand with a religious holiday. But the ritual and reverence is accompanied by a convivencia, a social event that brings people together as family and friends. And it always includes children; they are at the center of most everything. It does not take a lot of money to enjoy community. There are things that people will, however, spend their hard earned money on, like a picture of their child with "La Virgen de Guadalupe", or a ice cold "nieve" from the local ice cream vendor. 
Another hallmark of a true community celebration is monos de calenda, giant paper maché structures with a frame made of carrizo, a bamboo like material. The woman monos are always very well endowed and the men mustached and handsome. I was very fortunate to have met José, a local folk artist who makes monos. He was very involved in la Fiesta de Nuestro Señor de Esquipullas at la Iglesia de Carmen Alto, the church 50 meters from my apartment. He makes the monos and teaches the neighborhood kids to dance in them. The neighborhood kids are more than happy to climb inside the monos and whirl around the plaza with reckless abandon. José is a true example
of a folk artist. He does his art out of a love for his community and
the rich traditions of his homeland. |
| José bailando con una vecina |
The celebration of Nuestro Señor de Esquipullas was an all day event, not just once, but two consecutive Sundays. The banda municipal and monos were going full throttle from ten in the morning until ten at night. But there were breaks to allow for a rest in the shade in between dances. There was time for vendors to walk through the crowd trying to earn the few pesos a day that allows them to survive, selling chewing gum and cigarettes to members of the gathering. It wouldn't be a fiesta without them.
Every
good Mexican fiesta ends with an unforgettable display of fireworks. It
can't be any other other way. Hours are spent in the preparation for the
culminating event of the evening. Castillos (castles) are built with
pyrotechnic precision, works of art that are meant to be destroyed in
minutes to fulfill the hopes and expectations of the crowd. As my friend, Bob remarked, "looks like a Mexican version of "Burning Man".So the next time someone tells you it is too dangerous to travel to Mexico, that the drug cartels with kidnap and decapitate you, just tell them that a brass band is beckoning you and you have a gang of strong armed monos to protect you.
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| Castillos awaiting ignition |
