What’s a Sunday morning without a few crazies parading through the neighborhood?

Empty indeed.

We got our share today. The first of three parades around San Miguel de Allende began at the Parroquia an Antonio de Padua around 10 a.m. and danced down Callejohn San Antonio before hanging a left on the Ancha and heading for Centro.

According to the plan, the San Antonio gang was to merge with the other two groups somewhere along Insurgentes, forming a 300-strong trance-and-dance line. And if my ears prove me right, it sounds like they are all back in front of the San Antonio church dancing in a frenzy to the propulsive music beloved by all locos.

(Click on any picture to enlarge it.)

All of this is just an early prelude to the mid-June celebration called Dia de Locos. That’s when thousands of costumed celebrants dance and jiggle their way down the Ancha and into Centro while many thousands more lined the streets to cheer them on and maybe snatch from the air some of the hundreds of pounds of candy tossed by the marchers.

Today’s parades celebrate San Pascual Baylon, a devout friar known for humility, hospitality, and stout devotion to the Eucharist. Many more devotees than paraders were waiting in line this morning to enter the San Antonio church to venerate before the golden monstrance set up at the entrance.

Here is just a taste of what the Dia de Locos parade promises to offer. Noticeably absent were the Krazy Klowns. I’d heard they were being banned from the parade. I hope that isn’t so. They offer an edge side that works well with the other costumed characters. Plus, their dancing is positively euphoric and contagious.

Well, there will be a lot more parades in the weeks to come. That’s just what San Miguel does when the tourists and part-timers flee the heat.

We go crazy.

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