Guadalupe Feast Photos

beautiful full moon night at the guadalupe feast..................

Below is the small chapel in the garden of the mayor's casa. A table has been set up in front where the priest will give mass.

Inside the chapel, the painting of Guadalupe is at the altar .

Below Mayo dancers lead the procession to the altar where mass will be performed.

The garden is a huge Ushape, with many tables and chairs placed under a long black net covered roof. The garden is approximately 50 yards wide and 100 yards long. Barrels were arranged around the perimeters and huge fires were blazing in them. A great place to warm your hands or to cook ears of corn on sticks. But not great for digital photography. The air was slighty hazy.

It is hard to see it in these photos, but there is a castille ( wooden and metal structure) about 50 feet high, in the center of the scene. It would later be set on fire.

Below, the castille has been set on fire. It was very mechanical. The fireworks began at the bottom, and at a certain time, spokes and springs would come alive and set off the next round of fireworks. Wheels would suddenly poke out of the castille and begin spinning, tossing firework sprays into the crowd (who didn't seem to mind a bit). The whole time the castille went off, a man stood beside it, throwing huge firebombs into the sky. Their flaming trails would come crashing down onto the net covering above the seating area and into the garden. We seemed to be the only nervous people, and we did secretly plan an escape route in case things went bad. The crowd roared and roared for more, they love their fireworks here in Mexico!

Above, the castille seems to have moving arms that are spraying fireworks and flames and sparks. If you have ever seen Zozobra burn in New Mexico, this was very similar, but on a smaller scale and without the groaning sounds.....

Above, the fire is in the middle of the castille and soon mechanical branches will fall horizontally and begin to spin and burn, setting off the upper third.

The photo above shows the trail of light (directly over the onlookers heads) behind a flaming rocket that shoots through the garden. A wire is attached somewhere at each long end of the garden. It is about 8 feet above the ground and about a hundred yards long. One person at one end lights a rocket and it shoots along the wire to the opposite end, where a person lights and shoots a new one right back. The kids absolutely love this. They all run from one end of the garden to the other...UNDER THE ROCKET FLAME!!! All the while, the sparks and pieces of flames and fire are dropping down on them as they run. I thought my heart would stop, but not only did the kids love it, the parents screamed and clapped and could hardly stay in their seats.

Below, the tip of the castille has begun to burn, setting off other flames that ran the whole length and width of the garden and everything dripped fire. It literally rained white fire for ten minutes.................. it was a little scary but it was absolutely beautiful.

Below, you can see the fire of the rocket as it speeds by at a very fast pace. Bill took this shot by pressing the shutter seconds before the rocket sped by in front of us.

I'm including the shot below because it is how I felt after all the fireworks, dizzy and unfocused....

Below, more dancing by Mayo Indians.

the food was wonderful, lots of tamales, carne asado and the standard drink of cornstarch and cocoa and spices........for which I can't remember the name...........someone will tell us, it starts with a K, I believe. When it is served, it is piping hot and as it cools, it jells and becomes really thick and a little hard to swallow, but very spicy and tasty.

We had a wonderful time and made it till 11pm........and slept till 8:30 on Saturday.

Last night we went and heard several wonderful musicians perform at the Casa Maria Felix. It was such a wonderful setting, a very beautiful hotel with an atmosphere that is romantic, but very comfortable and casual. You should come for a visit and stay there......

This morning I made taffy, but could not get it to pull.............a friend from down the street came up to help with a second batch and we still could not get it to pull........... I think it is because we had mucho chipichipi in the night and it was very cool and humid this morning. So....I turned the taffy into a confection for dropping into your tea or coffee...tried again and got a hard crytalized candy for treats......so, no Christmas taffy yet................we have our tree............a living, potted 4' norfolk pine..............

We are on our way to a Mexican family baptism for their son............i'll show you the tree and the new tinnaco that is on the roof in the next posts.................