China to be honored guest at 35th Festival Cervantino in Guanajuato
A Unique
Festival Celebrating St. John the Baptist: The
Corn Festival in Tlaxcala
Although
there are many famous festivals around the world celebrating the birth of the
prophet St. John the Baptist, the town of Ixtenco
in the state of Tlaxcala may have one of the most unique events with la Feria del Maiz. This Corn
Festival, held every year on June 24, is a celebration of the area’s
fertile soils.
Crowds
start flooding the streets on the night of the 23rd to prepare carpets of corn,
seeds, fruit pits and flowers. By 2 a.m.,, the streets
are full of people and traditional music can be heard everywhere. Fireworks
begin the celebration, and around noon an image of St. John is brought out of the church and
carried in a procession around town.
The
festival’s mixture of pre-Hispanic tributes to mother earth and Catholic
traditions is a good example of Tlaxcala. The state, located between the
Atlantic and the Pacific Ocean, has been
directly influenced by many trade and travel routes and was also the home to
the first Bishopric in the Americans. This is strongly reflected in the state’s
varying architecture--from the Franciscan Assumption Convent, whose temple
exhibits one of the most extravagant paneled ceilings in Mexico, to the Ocotlan
Sanctuary with its baroque design to the Xochietecatl
Archaeological Zone built between 300 B.C. and 400 B.C.
Today
the state offers tourists the opportunity to visit haciendas, archeological
sites, craft markets, churches and to practice ecotourism while taking part in
one of its many unique fairs and celebrations.
