It must be great to be a kid in Mexico. They have 365 main fiesta days. That’s a fiesta for every day of the year! In Spanish, fiesta means “feast day”, but feasts are only part of these Mexican celebrations.
The
largest and most popular of these festivals is the fiesta celebrating the Lady
of Guadalupe, Mary, the mother of Jesus.
On December 12th, over six million Mexicans travel to Mexico
City to visit La Villa, a shrine to her.
On
this day, people rise early and gather in the village plaza.
There they celebrate with balloons, bands, and dancing.
When dark falls, there is a spectacular fireworks display.
Kids
in Mexico love Christmas. Probably
because it lasts for a week! The
celebrating starts on December 16th.
Every evening until Christmas Day there is a posada, or play, about the
birth of Jesus. After each posada,
all the children gather around a pinata filled with cany and toys where they
wait for one of them to break it open with a stick.
Mexican
children don’t look for presents on Christmas morning.
They wait until January 6th to exchange gifts.
This is the day that Mexicans celebrate the arrival of the wisemen to
the birthplace of Jesus. Not only
do they exchange gifts, but they also have La Rosca de los Reyes, or the Ring
of the Wise Men. This is a
delicious circular cake that is baked with tiny porcelain dolls mixed in with
the dough. The dolls represent
the gifts the wise men gave to Jesus.
You’ll find no chocolate bunnies or decorated eggs on Easter in Mexico. On Easter the kid’s in Mexico celebrate the resurrection of Jesus with feasting, dancing, and merrymaking. On the Saturday before Easter there is a custom called “the Burning of Judas”.
Mexican
families honor their dead relatives on November 1st.
Eventhough this sounds like a sad time, it is actually a joyus occasion
for the people of Mexico. They
leave presents for the spirits of their dead relatives whom they believe visit
their homes in the early hours of All Saint’s Day.
Later on in the day, everyone goes to the cemetary to decorate their
family graves with flowers and then have a picnic.
At night, candles are lit by the graves to help the spirits find their
resting places in the darkness.
The
day after All Saint’s Day is The Day of the Dead.
On this day, children and adults continue to celebrate with parades,
candy, and food.