Revolution Day was on Thursday. As with all things annual and important, San Miguel de Allende celebrated with a parade.
Now, you would think that a parade that celebrates the Revolution of 1910, which finally freed Mexico from the oppressive rule of Porfirio Diaz, would be thick with militarism — squads of soldiers, combatants in arms, cannons, tanks, uniformly dressed squads marching in precision to martial cadences.
But it wasn’t.
Continue reading
For more than a week, San Miguelians have been parading and dancing nightly in celebration of the Feast of Saint Michael. When it’s your namesake, you go all out. Right?
And on the last day, you put it all together in the “Grand Desfile de Danzas Locales y Foraneas” — the Grand Parade of Local and Foreign Dances.
Continue reading
All of San Miguel de Allende knew something was up today, if only because the cohetes exploded us out of our slumber at 5 a.m. and hardly stopped for the next two hours.
That’s way more spiritual pyrotechnics than a minor saint receives, most mornings.
This morning heralded the Festival of Saint Michael the Archangel and the patron saint of San Miguel de Allende. Granted, the festival is not until the weekend of October 3-5, but we are not above having parades to announce future festivals.
Indeed, today’s procession through the community is called La Reseña de la Fiesta Patronal, and it is both an announcement to the community and an invitation to participate in the celebration.
Continue reading
Well, all those umbrellas did not go to waste. The ones people carried to the Locos parade and the ones sold by vendors under threatening skies.
The rains stayed away and thousands of gaily costumed — and bizarrely, quaintly, curiously, delightfully, enchantingly, dreamily, whimsically, scarily, creepily, amusingly and shockingly costumed — paraders strutted, danced, boogied, jumped and jived their way down the Ancha, en route to the Jardin Allende in the civic square.
Continue readingHow can you tell if a parade is about to break out in San Miguel de Allende?
Sadly, if you are a gringo, you’re probably the last to know. Parades and processions, for the most part, are cultural. You may not be connected to the network that announces such things. So, pay attention. Follow these tips and you may end up on the sidewalk watching one of the most unique and exciting things to happen in this city.
Continue reading
The city of San Miguel de Allende came out in force on Sunday to celebrate the 255th anniversary of the birth of Don Ignacio Allende y Unzaga, hero of the Mexican Revolution of 1810.
The city, through its Directorate of Culture and Traditions, has presented a slate of civic and cultural events in honor of the birthday that will culminate in a huge fireworks display tonight.
The most visible of all these events is the traditional Great Military and Civic Parade which started around 10:30 a.m. and marched through Centro, down Zacateros, up the Ancha, and terminated on Cardo.
(Click on any image to enlarge it.)
Continue reading
Who ever heard of a parade starting on time in San Miguel de Allende? Well, ALMOST on time.
Last night’s official parade of the dead got off within 20 minutes of its announced time of 6 p.m. By our standards, that’s awfully good. And it caught a lot of Catrinas and Catrines by surprise.
The first band and mobs of gaily dressed skeletal creatures were out of the gate on Cardo like it was the Kentucky Derby and not Dia de Muertos. All of a sudden, a hundred bystanders with iPhones and Nikon cameras were scrambling down the Ancha to get ahead of the parade.
Continue reading
I think that of all the parades we have in San Miguel de Allende, this is my favorite.
This one, during the Mexican Independence festivities, celebrates the school children (our future), first responders (our safety), police and military (our security), and equestrians (our history). It has it all. All that makes Mexico a beautiful country in which to live.
The parade began on Cordo and turned onto the Ancha before marching up into Centro on yet another flawlessly beautiful September day.
One of the worst things you can do is over-write a parade. It is all visual and emotional. So I’m going to leave it right there and just fill this page with pictures of beautiful kids and adults in uniform — and some in costume.
Enjoy.
Continue reading
They did it. The Loco marched, danced, walked, twirled, teased, sweated, tossed candy and rubber balls, waved, smiled, and consumed copious amounts of water and electrolyte drinks on Sunday morning.
And the thousands lining both sides of many downtown San Miguel de Allende streets loved every hot and sticky, broiling, joyous moment of the Contvite de Locos.
What an incredible day.
The city estimates that 130,000 people were in San Miguel for the parade, of whom 5,300 were Locos marching in the parade. Only 43 people required medical attention for heat, falling, tripping, or other maladies. Four individuals were arrested during this very family-oriented festivity.
It is worth noting that the city staffed a number of “hydration stations” along the parade route for marchers and watchers.
Continue reading
Well, this explains so many things: Anthony de Padua is the patron saint of the insane.
Now the Dia de Locos — or Convite de Locos — isn’t so crazy after all.
Well, yes, it is. Crazy, I mean. Very very crazy. In so many delightful ways.
What better way to honor the patron saint of people who have lost their minds than to assemble thousands of people in costumes that suggest they, too, have indeed lost their minds?
Continue reading
Musings, Magic, San Miguel and More 