It is said that San Miguel de Allende has more fiestas than any town in
Mexico. I’m believing it. One thing I know for sure: Mexico loves to party! Any
excuse for fireworks, church bells, loud music, flowers, food, tequila and
plenty of colorful costumes. The excuse last weekend was Dia de Los Locos.
The parade was scheduled to begin at 10:00 AM. In true Mexican style, it
did not kick off until after noon. Que sera sera. This always-on-time-never-late
Chicago girl has finally slipped into dutiful Mexican bliss. Didn’t take that
long, did it?
We had been at the start of the procession since 9:30 AM and found a
great spot on the edge of a fountain to view the parade. Or so we thought.
The parade, very reminiscent of carnival started at the
Church of San Antonio and took a slow 3 hour trek to the center of town. To say
it was colorful is an understatement. There were costumes and masks of every
shade and color and material… from beautiful, hand painted paper mache to simple
wire and masking tape.
Caricatures of time both foreign and celebrities
were there. In true Mexican style, young and old came together to celebrate.
Cross
dressing was the order of the day and elements of the parade were almost reminiscent of a Gay Pride parade in the states.
One of the pure joys was the inordinate
amounts of candy thrown at the spectators. The minute the tossing kicked off,
the umbrellas went up and turned upside down to catch the candy. Me, I let the candy
land at my feet as I anxiously tried to take photos. I’m not sure at what point
I gave up shooting as it was impossible to catch anything on camera other than a
bunch of colorful umbrellas. They were beautiful and my day would not go unrewarded.
Already a late afternoon tradition, we
went to our usual table outside Ten Ten Pie for a Margarita. About 15 minutes
into our drinks, people flowed down
the street in front of the restaurant with the music blaring and still in full revelry. It turned out that every single group
from the parade had to make their exit from town down the street in front of
the restaurant.
And since there were
only a few of us there, I was
about to get my own personal parade.
Buen Apetito!