Calendar
of Mexican Fiestas and Holidays
Mexico has, apart from their
national fiestas, also fiestas per city, village and barrio
(suburban), making the total number of fiestas more than 5,000 a
year!
Here are just a few major ones.
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| JANUARY |
- 1st - NEW YEAR'S DAY -National
holiday celebrated with dances and fiestas.
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- 8th - DAY OF THE THREE KINGS (Dia
de los Santos Reyes) - National holiday when children
receive their Christmas gifts and shoes full of candy
(instead of stockings).
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- 17th - ST. ANTHONY'S DAY - All of
Mexico celebrates by taking their animals to church and
blessing them.
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- 18-20th - DAY OF SANTA PRISCA -
Taxco celebrates a fair and dances.
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| FEBRUARY |
- 2nd - CANDELARIA DAY (Candlemas
Day) - All of Mexico celebrates with dances, processions,
and for those that can afford , a bullfight. One of the
better celebrations is held at Tlacotalpan, Veracruz.
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- 5th - CONSTITUCION DAY - All of
Mexico celebrates with parades and fireworks.
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- 24th - FLAG DAY - National
holiday commemorating the birth of the Mexican flag in 1821,
celebrated with parades and fireworks.
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| MARCH |
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- 21st - BIRTH OF BENITO JUAREZ -
National holiday celebrated with parades and fireworks -
Birth Of Benito Juarez
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| APRIL |
-
25th - ST. MARK'S DAY
- Famous three-century old fair held in Aguascalientes,
which usually lasts about two weeks and features musicians,
charros (gentlemen cowboys), and bullfights. One of the
largest and best in Mexico. -
Easter Week In Mexico
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- 30th - Dia de los Ninos -
Introduced in Mexico in 1924, Día
de los Niños is now celebrated in more than 120
countries as a way to recognize the important role of
children in the community.
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| MAY |
- 1st - LABOR DAY - National
holiday celebrates with civic exercises, parades, and
fireworks. (Most of the world, excluding the U.S.,
recognizes May 1st as Labor Day.)
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- 3rd - DAY OF THE HOLY CROSS -
Religious festivities held in many parts of the country,
particularly colorful in Milpa Alta near Mexico City and
Valle de Bravo, Mexico.
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- 5th - FIFTH OF MAY (Cinco de
Mayo) - National holiday celebrating the defeat of the
French at Puebla in 1862.
Cinco
de Mayo
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| JUNE |
- Mid - CORPUS CHRISTI DAY - All of
Mexico celebrates by blessing the first fruits. In Papantla,
the Voladores (Flying Dancers) perform their famed aerial
dance.
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- 24th - DAY OF ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST
- Celebrated by all of Mexico, many taking a traditional
swim at dawn. Native dances are held in Navojoa Sonora;
Guanajuato; and Tehuantepec, Oaxaca.
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- 29th - DAY OF ST. PETER AND ST. PAUL
- All of Mexico Celebrates. Mexcaltitan, Nayarit features a
race around the island by a pair of canoes manned by the
images of St. Paul and St. Peter. If St. Peter wins,
tradition and old belief assure a good shrimp season.
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| JULY |
- Mid - LUNES DEL CERRO - Indians
from the seven regions of Oaxaca state perform a fascinating
pre-Columbian dance, one of the most important Indian
ceremonies in Mexico on the last two Mondays in July.
La Guelaguetza, a Oaxacan
Ceremony
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- 25 - ST. JAMES DAY - Celebrated
by all of Mexico in memory of St. James.
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| AUGUST |
-
15 - FEAST OF THE
ASSUMPTION - All of Mexico celebrates, but the major
festivities take place in Huamantla, Tlaxcala with its
floral street carpet, in Cholula, Puebla, and Milpa Alta,
D.F.
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| SEPTEMBER |
- 1st - STATE OF THE UNION ADDRESS
- National Holiday.
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- 16th - INDEPENDENCE DAY -
National holiday celebrated with parades, fairs, fireworks,
and rodeos. The festivities are most impressive in Mexico
City and Dolores Hidalgo (site of the reading of the
Declaration of Independence) and begin on the eve of
independence with the "grito" or cry for freedom.
Hidalgo's Call for Mexican
Independence
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- 29th - DAY OF ST. MICHAEL (Patron
Saint of Horsemen) - Fiestas and rodeos are held and
fireworks displayed in all towns having San Miguel as part
of their names, especially in San Miguel de Allende.
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| OCTOBER |
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- 4th - DAY IF ST. FRANCIS - All of
Mexico honors the Franciscan Order with dances, music, and
fireworks. Particularly interesting are the celebrations
held in Pachuca, Uruapan, and Puebla
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- 12th - DAY OF THE RACE - (Dia de
la Raza) or our COLUMBUS DAY - National holiday. A religious
festival is observed at Zapopan, next to Guadalajara. -
Christopher Columbus,
Saint or Sinner
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| NOVEMBER |
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- 20th - ANNIVERSARY OF THE REVOLUTION
OF 1910 - National holiday celebrates with parades and
firework.
The Mexican Revolution
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| DECEMBER |
- 8th - DAY OF THE IMMACULATE
CONCEPTION - All of Mexico celebrates with feasts in
honor of the day.
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- 12th - DAY OF OUR LADY OF GUADALUPE
- Fiestas are held throughout Mexico in honor of their
patroness (corresponds with our Mary). The fair in Tequila,
beginning the first of the month, is especially interesting.
Our Lady Of Guadalupe
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- 16-24th - LAS POSADAS - All of
Mexico prepares for Christmas with nine days of traditional
festivities. The Posada, a re-enactment of the Holy Family's
search for shelter in Bethlehem, is a joyous religious and
social event, ending with a piñata party. The processions
are most impressive in Oaxaca, Queretaro, San Miguel de
Allende and Patzcuaro.
Las Posadas
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A Piñata Tradition
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History of The Piñata
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- 23rd - NIGHT OF THE RADISHES - In
Oaxaca, the city's main square is filled with booths set up
to display huge, weirdly shaped radishes. There are also
fiestas and picturesque processions.
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- 28th - DAY OF THE INNOCENTS -
National Holiday similar to April Fools Day, celebrated with
lots of practical jokes.
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- 31st - NEW YEAR'S EVE - Local
celebrations are held in main plazas followed by traditional
midnight suppers and masses throughout Mexico.
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