Saturday Night Callejonada

I love night time, and once Sue and the kids were tucked away in bed I went out to see what surprises Guanajuato had for me on a Saturday night. Guanajuato is a university town, with very few foreigners, so it's quite different than the San Miguel scene. Apparently many students leave on Friday and return on Sunday, so the weekends are more touristy, but the youth influence still seemed to remain strong. As I walked around, I noticed many more hip nightclubs, with loud rock or dance music coming from underground cave-like bars. A lot of people were out and about, and it felt perfectly safe.

After a late night snack, I wandered back to the Jardin where a group of minstrel-looking young people had gathered in front of the main church there. They were singing a few songs, and getting the crowd involved, and then they beckoned the crowd to follow them, which I and about 80 other people did.


Callejonada group

I had heard about these groups, which are the pied pipers of various callejonadas, or alley parties. (In Spanish, a callejon is an alley, and adding "ada" to the end of anything makes it into a party.) They lead groups of people around town, singing songs, telling stories and entertaining them. They appeared to be students, but all very capable musicians and actors. I followed one group around for a while, and although I didn't understand all of the Spanish, the music was quite entertaining. For 90 pesos, they offer you an hour-long show, and you get a special wine mug that you can carry with you and fill along the way.

Here's a rather crude video I took which give you a little of the flavor:



Guanajuato - with it's narrow alleys and windy backstreets - is a perfect place for these callejonadas. Definitely an "only in this part of the world" event.