New Years
New Years Day (and a few days before and after) for many folks is spent at the Cuevitas, a site about a mile out of town. Here, legend has it, the Virgin appeared to travellers many years ago. There is a small chapel and shrines are placed in the hillside where the image first appeared. There is a mass on January 1. On the hillside above the chapel people, using stones, build their "dreams" for the year, typically a house, vehicles and animals. All is very festive, with campfires, fireworks and music.
January 14 - 15
Día del Cristo de Equipulas (Day of the Christ of Equipulas) -- Special flowers in the market on the 14th, a day that some people bargain rather than use money to make their purchases. Mass and procession on the 15th.
Easter/Semana Santa (various dates)
Easter week begins on Monday with processions of images throughout the village. Each of the five Teotitlán neighborhoods builds a temporary chapel of rugs where the images are placed and worshiped with flowers and incense. Good Friday begins with two processions following different routes through the village, one led by Mary and the other by Christ. The encuentro - a dramatic meeting between the two -- takes place in the Mercado de Artesania where a priest gives a sermon before all enter the church.
Carnival (after Easter)
Carnival in Teotitlán comes immediately after Easter. For five days masked men and boys, many cross-dressed as women, dance to the delight of the largely female audiences gathered in front of the city hall. On the last night there are awards for the best and most imaginatively costumed dancers. It is all great fun, accompanied by good music and good food.
May 3
Día de la Cruz - A cross is carried to the top of Picacho at dawn. A service is held, and breakfast served to those who make the climb.
July 1 - 15
Fiesta de la Sangre Preciosa (Festival of the Precious Blood) - Celebration of the patron Saint with processions, the Danza de la Pluma, community dance and carnival.
September 15 - 16
Día de la Independencia - On the night of the 15th, parade with bands and a float bearing America, a beautifully costumed school girl representing the entire continent. On the 16th a parade with school children.
November 1 - 2
Dias de Todos Santos (Days of the Dead) - On November 1 families welcome the visiting spirits of their recently-deceased family members, offering them their favorite foods and drink. In the evening of November 2, families gather in the cemetery where the tombs are beautifully adorned with flowers to remember their loved ones and to visit.
November 20
Día de la Revolución - Parade of school children, many in revolutionary costume.
December 12
Día de la Virgen de Guadalupe - Mass, procession and Danza de la Pluma.
December 16 - 25
Posadas, nightly processions commemorating Mary and Joseph’s search for lodging
