CELEBRATIONS

CELEBRATIONS

SMA (San Miguel de Allende) is a town of celebrations, parades, Indian dancers, religious statues, fireworks, Mariachi’s  and church bells. Just about any weekend in SMA one can find a reason that includes all of these celebratory announcements. 

The celebration usually takes place around the Jardin, or town center.  The park contains wrought iron benches, laurel  trees and on any given night Mariachi’s in traditional form fitting Eisenhower style jackets with silver and gold thread and silver buttons decorating the pants. The band instrumentation may consist of guitars, violins and trumpets as they create the musical ambiance that is indicative of town squares throughout Mexico. This historic center is surrounded by buildings from the 17^th and 18^th centuries and the Jardin area, as is most of San Miguel has been declared a Enesco World Heritage Site. 

The17th century La Parroquia church fronts the expansive park and parade area and it’s massive sanctuary hosts weekday and Sunday services_, special events and weddings. A small crypt under the alter contains the remains of passed bishops, dignitaries and a former president of Mexico. Viewing to the public is available one day year on November 2, on the special holiday of “The Day Of The Dead.”

One evening Lorelei and I had dinner at the newly opened and highly touted, Thai Restaurant just off the Jardin. Coming from the Midwest, we have been raised on a staple of authentic Thai food and saw this as an opportunity to reflect on our past as we indulged in our well-loved cuisine. The service was great, the ambiance romantic, but the food… well,  Let me say that I didn’t see one Asian cook in the restaurant and the Pad Thai had a distinct salsa taste.  

As we are walking through the Jardin, we heard the sound of a brass band led by a drum section playing in a quasi-Mexican/Dixieland style.  As they came out of the Parroquia church we got caught up in the wedding party celebration and found ourselves dancing down the street led by a flower laden burrow, and two, 15 foot dancing puppets called Mojigangas. These huge puppets were dressed in bride and groom costumes followed by the real bride and groom, then family, friends, on lookers and the 12 piece Mexican/Dixieland style brass band.  Everyone’s dancing and the tequila is flowing. What a wedding celebration.

 

Click links below to see photos of other celebrations.

1. Feast of St Michaels and Blessings of the Cowboys and Horses

2. Day of The Dead Oldest cemetary, Crypt, Dancers, Costumes.