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| Cultural Events Calendar for Village of Santa Elena, Uxmal and surrounding area in Yucatan, Mexico Here are some of the unique cultural events and ceremonies you may be fortunate enough to see while visiting the Yucatan. People who live here call themselves Yucatecans and they enjoy a rich cultural heritage. The places and events described below are not arranged for tourists, but are an authentic reality of everyday life in the Yucatan, Mexico. |
Calendar of Authentic Yucatan and Mayan Cultural Events tourists seldom see,
Village of Santa Elena and surrounding area:
Many of these events have no specific dates, so I can only give approximate time periods.
January, last two weeks: El K'oche. In the village, traditional celebrations, dances,
religious processions, and dancing firecracker covered bulls complete with fire
rockets are used during the celebrations that take place in honor of San Mateo
and Santo Cristo de Amor, Patron Saints of the village.
See story El K'oche and the Flaming Toros for what REALLY happens!
February & March: Carnival begins in Merida, ending Ash Wednesday, moving around the
peninsula from village to village in a 4 day cycle (Merida is one week), lasting
about one month in all. In Santa Elena, Carnival consists of an evening contest for
best costume and dance routine, an evening featuring regional dances, and one
evening of a big band popular music dance. Generally the last part of February to
the first week of March.
March & April: Semana Santa (Easter). 2 weeks. EVERYONE that can, goes to the beach.
Bring your own sand on the weekends, especially in Progreso!
April & May: Small town bullfights, called Corrida, not on a professional level at all. The bulls
are not usually killed. Corridas span 4 days, generally starting the end of the first
week in May, beginning on a Saturday and going to Tuesday. There are dances
at night, regional traditional and big band.
April 30-May 3: Corrida in Chumayil (about 45 minutes from the village)
in honor of Santa Cruz. Be sure you read "A Word About Corridas", above.
June & July: After the rains come the butterflies. They flutter and float in ethereal clouds of
yellow and green, so many you will want to slow your car as you drive through them.
You have to see it to believe it.
July: Ferias (fair/market) honoring Carmen, the Patron Saint of fishermen. Features
religious processions, some involving processions in boats.
July: July features school graduations all over the peninsula, as schools here do not close
the middle of July and reopen the last week of August. Graduations are "open air" for
the most part and guests are welcome to attend those in the villages. These are VERY
formal, with gowns similar to weddings, the boys dressed similarly.
August 12-15: Corrida in Pustunich (about 20 minutes from the village)
in honor of the Virgin of Ascencion.
Be sure you read "A Word About Corridas" above.
October: Ferias (fair/market) in honor of Santo Cristo de Ampollas (blisters!), which is the various merchants,
such as bread makers (panaderos), butchers (carniceros), and candlestick makers! Each of
these offer small samples of their "craft" on their dedicated day of this week long celebration.
October 31-November 8: Days of the Dead celebrations:
November, 2nd week: "Ferias" (fair/market) in Tekax and Ticul, in honor of their Patron Saints. Featuring
religious processions, various events, carnival booths, food booths, crafts for sale, etc.
November to February: Annual bird migrations, birdwatcher's delight - we have flowers, fruits, trees and water
holes on our property that attract many different species; view from your room or while walking our
private nature trail through our acreage.
November: Xmakuil, the BIGGEST three week long HUGE fair around, just outside of Merida, a 50 minute drive from us.
Big name singers from all over Mexico perform in concerts starting around midnight until 3AM. Lots of
carnival rides, cattle, sheep, etc. exhibits vie for "best of type", plus the typical county fair stuff. There
are HUGE crowds there everyday generally and everyone from our village goes!
November: the Orange Fair in Oxkutzcab, the center of production. Tons and tons and tons, & more tons, of oranges!
November: this is the time to see Morpho, a large brilliant blue butterfly.
December 1-12: During the month of December, from the first day to the 12th, you will see
groups of runners everywhere on the smaller highways, dressed in red and green, with
pictures of the Saint Guadalupe on their shirts. They are running in honor of this Saint,
the Patron Saint of all Mexico. They will run continuously in relays from their chosen starting
point to their chosen destination, to pay tribute to her. Their journey must be completed
by midnight on the 12th. They will be put up in the churches and private homes all across
the nation. (*Since they run day and night, do be on the look-out for them and drive carefully,
we lose several every year to road accidents).
December 7, 11 & 24: We have three important Saints that we celebrate in December:
Concepcion on the 8th, Guadalupe on the 12th, and Baby Jesus on the 25th. It is
common for both men and women who are born on these days to be named after their
Saint. In our village, there are generally celebrations for each, ON THE EVENING BEFORE.
Therefore on the 7th, 11th, and 24th nights, should you be in the village,
celebrations will begin in the square below church at about 10 P.M. This will involve
rockets and firecrackers, small carnival-like booths, and the flaming dancing "toros",
paper mache bulls with a dancer inside. You can read more about these activities and
antics in my article titled "El K'oche and the Flaming Toros".
December 31: Efigies of the Old Year, "El Ano viejo", stuffed human size mannequins are made
and placed all over the villages, and burned at midnight - amid neighborhood organized
activities that vary widely. Fireworks.
These are the majority of events for the year. "Ferias" (fair/market) go on throughout the year, in each village. All are
in honor of the Patron Saint of that particular village or city. Some are very well known nationally, such as in Izamal, Peto,
and Tekax. Other "ferias" are the shoe fairs of Ticul, about 4 per year, all featuring various events, carnival booths,
ons of shoes for sale, food booths, etc. All feature religious processions, some involving processions in boats,
such as those honoring Carmen, the Patron Saint of fishermen, during July.
I hope this helps you see another side of life on the peninsula that you might have missed before, or might not realize exists.
Kristine,
Flycatcher Inn, Santa Elena
15 minutes southeast of Uxmal in Yucatan, Mexico
Village of Santa Elena and surrounding area:
Many of these events have no specific dates, so I can only give approximate time periods.
January, last two weeks: El K'oche. In the village, traditional celebrations, dances,
religious processions, and dancing firecracker covered bulls complete with fire
rockets are used during the celebrations that take place in honor of San Mateo
and Santo Cristo de Amor, Patron Saints of the village.
See story El K'oche and the Flaming Toros for what REALLY happens!
February & March: Carnival begins in Merida, ending Ash Wednesday, moving around the
peninsula from village to village in a 4 day cycle (Merida is one week), lasting
about one month in all. In Santa Elena, Carnival consists of an evening contest for
best costume and dance routine, an evening featuring regional dances, and one
evening of a big band popular music dance. Generally the last part of February to
the first week of March.
March & April: Semana Santa (Easter). 2 weeks. EVERYONE that can, goes to the beach.
Bring your own sand on the weekends, especially in Progreso!
April & May: Small town bullfights, called Corrida, not on a professional level at all. The bulls
are not usually killed. Corridas span 4 days, generally starting the end of the first
week in May, beginning on a Saturday and going to Tuesday. There are dances
at night, regional traditional and big band.
- A WORD ABOUT CORRIDAS:
These are major local events, attended by everyone who possibly can go. Shops
close, market stands go unattended, school is skipped, extra taxis run all afternoon
and well through the night taking people to these activities.
Big mechanical carnival rides are set up, as well as booths for food and games. Ever
wonder where all the old foosball tables went? They are all down here, brought back
to life, and well loved, as well as all the "hit the tin duck, win a stuffed teddy bear"
type of games from your childhood. Guests who have gone have a ball, being kids
again. In these 4 day events, there are bullfights, but it is rare that the bull is killed,
except for the first one, for meat. And processions through the church in honor to the
various Saints, traditional regional dances, and huge big band dances, lasting well
into the wee hours of morning. Two guests from Holland took niece Rosi and Santiago
off to Pustunich to one of these big dances, and recently sent us pictures of all
the fun they had.
It goes roughly like this:
Day 1: The men are busy building the bull fight arena out of cut poles, lashed
together; chair seating on the second level. Tickets are sold for each section,
depending on which place you choose to watch the event. These can be sold
out and tickets prices tend to soar on the last day, as EVERYONE goes. Day
1 also features the "vaqueria", the regional dance called the Jarana, no bull
fight this day.
Day 2: Bullfights, afternoon, starting sometime around 4-4:30 P.M. until dusk.
Big band music, 2 nights until the wee hours.
Day 3: Corrida and Big Band dance.
Day 4: Last day, can get wild, corrida and major big band blow out dance.
April 30-May 3: Corrida in Chumayil (about 45 minutes from the village)
in honor of Santa Cruz. Be sure you read "A Word About Corridas", above.
June & July: After the rains come the butterflies. They flutter and float in ethereal clouds of
yellow and green, so many you will want to slow your car as you drive through them.
You have to see it to believe it.
July: Ferias (fair/market) honoring Carmen, the Patron Saint of fishermen. Features
religious processions, some involving processions in boats.
July: July features school graduations all over the peninsula, as schools here do not close
the middle of July and reopen the last week of August. Graduations are "open air" for
the most part and guests are welcome to attend those in the villages. These are VERY
formal, with gowns similar to weddings, the boys dressed similarly.
August 12-15: Corrida in Pustunich (about 20 minutes from the village)
in honor of the Virgin of Ascencion.
Be sure you read "A Word About Corridas" above.
October: Ferias (fair/market) in honor of Santo Cristo de Ampollas (blisters!), which is the various merchants,
such as bread makers (panaderos), butchers (carniceros), and candlestick makers! Each of
these offer small samples of their "craft" on their dedicated day of this week long celebration.
October 31-November 8: Days of the Dead celebrations:
- During the last week of October, altars are built and displayed in each village in the state.
The best ones then go to Merida, where they are set up and displayed in the central
plaza. There is no set date, but this is at the very end of October.
In the various local markets, you can see special treats, "dulces", made of small candied
papaya shells, filled with colored shredded coconut, candied small fruits of all kinds,
marzipan in a variety of shapes, flan, and flowers, tons of flowers, the most prominent
being Marigolds - the preferred flower to put on the graves in the cemeteries and altars.
The biggest days to see these displays in the smaller markets are the November 7 & 8,
the final days to honor the dead. Most families will spend the day of November 8 making
the traditional "piib", a large flat thick tortilla with an achiote paste and chicken in the
center. It is wrapped in banana leaves and baked underground.
November, 2nd week: "Ferias" (fair/market) in Tekax and Ticul, in honor of their Patron Saints. Featuring
religious processions, various events, carnival booths, food booths, crafts for sale, etc.
November to February: Annual bird migrations, birdwatcher's delight - we have flowers, fruits, trees and water
holes on our property that attract many different species; view from your room or while walking our
private nature trail through our acreage.
November: Xmakuil, the BIGGEST three week long HUGE fair around, just outside of Merida, a 50 minute drive from us.
Big name singers from all over Mexico perform in concerts starting around midnight until 3AM. Lots of
carnival rides, cattle, sheep, etc. exhibits vie for "best of type", plus the typical county fair stuff. There
are HUGE crowds there everyday generally and everyone from our village goes!
November: the Orange Fair in Oxkutzcab, the center of production. Tons and tons and tons, & more tons, of oranges!
November: this is the time to see Morpho, a large brilliant blue butterfly.
December 1-12: During the month of December, from the first day to the 12th, you will see
groups of runners everywhere on the smaller highways, dressed in red and green, with
pictures of the Saint Guadalupe on their shirts. They are running in honor of this Saint,
the Patron Saint of all Mexico. They will run continuously in relays from their chosen starting
point to their chosen destination, to pay tribute to her. Their journey must be completed
by midnight on the 12th. They will be put up in the churches and private homes all across
the nation. (*Since they run day and night, do be on the look-out for them and drive carefully,
we lose several every year to road accidents).
December 7, 11 & 24: We have three important Saints that we celebrate in December:
Concepcion on the 8th, Guadalupe on the 12th, and Baby Jesus on the 25th. It is
common for both men and women who are born on these days to be named after their
Saint. In our village, there are generally celebrations for each, ON THE EVENING BEFORE.
Therefore on the 7th, 11th, and 24th nights, should you be in the village,
celebrations will begin in the square below church at about 10 P.M. This will involve
rockets and firecrackers, small carnival-like booths, and the flaming dancing "toros",
paper mache bulls with a dancer inside. You can read more about these activities and
antics in my article titled "El K'oche and the Flaming Toros".
December 31: Efigies of the Old Year, "El Ano viejo", stuffed human size mannequins are made
and placed all over the villages, and burned at midnight - amid neighborhood organized
activities that vary widely. Fireworks.
These are the majority of events for the year. "Ferias" (fair/market) go on throughout the year, in each village. All are
in honor of the Patron Saint of that particular village or city. Some are very well known nationally, such as in Izamal, Peto,
and Tekax. Other "ferias" are the shoe fairs of Ticul, about 4 per year, all featuring various events, carnival booths,
ons of shoes for sale, food booths, etc. All feature religious processions, some involving processions in boats,
such as those honoring Carmen, the Patron Saint of fishermen, during July.
I hope this helps you see another side of life on the peninsula that you might have missed before, or might not realize exists.
Kristine,
Flycatcher Inn, Santa Elena
15 minutes southeast of Uxmal in Yucatan, Mexico
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