Mojigangas and Voladores

After getting Laurel and Bryce to tennis, then swimming and comida at a local hotel, we walked into town to watch the Saturday parade. The highlight is the mojigangas (giant puppets), about 60 large paper-mache human figures that rise above the crowd and dance their way up the street.


Mojigangas


Really tall Mojigangas


Dancing Mojigangas

Following the mojigangas are several dance groups representing local tribes in the Guanajuato region, dressed in colorful, creative indigenous costumes. Some are Aztec-looking, but others are more flamboyant. One of my favorites was a group where half were dressed as colonial soldiers, and half as natives, and they danced together. Other tribes had mock sword-fights. The whole procession took about an hour.


Scary Aztec dancer


Even scarier!

Once the parades finished, we all got ice cream, and then the Voladores did their show. These guys climb up a 120+ foot tall pole, attach ropes to themselves, wind it up, and then unwind as they hang upside-down to return to the ground. It's a beautiful thing to watch.


Voladores in action

I was told that the climbing up the pole represents being born from the earth, the ropes represent umbilical cords, and the four men's thirteen rotations make 52, for each week of the year. There are four Voladores, representing the four directions: north, south, east and west. (Wikipedia has more.)

After the festivities, there were no taxis to be found, so we walked home, had a snack, and then watched the fireworks and castillos from the porch. Quite a day!