Mexican Holidays and Traditions
Story by Jim Foreman
For most people living in the USA or Canada, These two holidays are the biggest of the year. Mexico is no exception. Homes, pueblos, and cities are all decorated in a festive spirit.
The week of Carnaval changes from year to year as it is dependent on Ash Wednesday, the day of atonement.
Carnaval is celebrated through most of the Catholic-influenced world in one fashion or another. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil is known for having the largest celebration followed by New Orleans, better known as Mardi Gras. Not surprisingly, Mazatlan has the third-largest Carnaval celebration worldwide. Mazatlan features parades down the Malecon, Fireworks, dance parties, Carnaval Queen and El Rey Feo (Ugly King) coronations, and other vibrant festivities.
The celebration of Carnaval happens all throughout Mexico with grand celebrations going on in Ensenada, Vera Cruz, Cozumel and elsewhere. For the rest of the world, Carnaval, as it's mostly called, is a great party celebrated before the Catholic period of Lent. A majority of the festivities happen Friday through Sunday. It ends abruptly during the final minutes on Tuesday just before Ash Wednesday.
Perhaps one of the most important holidays to most Mexicans is Semana Santa.
While Norte Americanos are busy planning which Mexican beach resort to settle in for Spring Break, Mexicans are making travel plans to be with family.
Semana Santa is the common name for two back-to-back holiday weeks beginning on Palm Sunday. Semana Santa lasts through Easter Saturday. Immediately after, Pascua Begins. Pascua is far more joyous as it is a celebration of the Resurrection.
Coinciding with Columbus Day, Dia De La Raza celebrates the heritage, colonization, and cultural diversity of Latin America. It’s not a major holiday, but it’s not a minor one either. Family get-togethers are common on this day. The day typically features a parade, dances, and feasting.
New Years Day (January 1st)
Dia de la Constitucion (First Monday in February)
Benito Juarez’s Birthday (March 21st)
Maundy Thursday (Thursday before Easter Sunday)
Good Friday (Friday before Easter Sunday)
Dia del Trabajo - Labor Day (May 1st)
Dia de la Independencia (September 16th)
Aniversario de la Revolución Mexicana (Third Monday of November)
Día de la Virgen de Guadalupe (December 12th)
Christmas (December 25th)
Dia de la Bandera - Flag Day (February 24th)
Dia International de la Mujer - International Women's Day (March 8th)
Dia del Niño - Day of the Children (April 30th)
Dia del Madre – Mother’s Day (May 10th)
Dia del Padre – Father’s Day (3rd Sunday in June)
Day of the Innocents (December 28th)
As one travels internationally, one of the first things to become apparent is that holidays are different from country to country.
Mexico is no exception. Many holidays are the same across North America such as New Year’s Day, Valentine’s Day, Easter, and Christmas. Other celebrations can catch a visitor by surprise with unexpected crowds, higher lodging costs, and festive celebrations well into the early morning.
Mexicans love to party and hardly need an excuse to bring family and friends together. Keep these days in mind when traveling in Mexico.
Mexico is no exception. Many holidays are the same across North America such as New Year’s Day, Valentine’s Day, Easter, and Christmas. Other celebrations can catch a visitor by surprise with unexpected crowds, higher lodging costs, and festive celebrations well into the early morning.
Mexicans love to party and hardly need an excuse to bring family and friends together. Keep these days in mind when traveling in Mexico.
Christmas
For Mexico, it goes far beyond the commercialized version of Christmas we celebrate in the USA. In Mexico, the Catholic faith and tradition play a key role in Christmas celebrations.
Mexico’s Christmas or Navidad celebrations naturally has origins in
Spain. Because of Mexico’s cultural diversity many of those traditions evolved in
a uniquely Mexican way. Mirroring Mexico's regional diversity, the flavors of those
celebrations also take on a regional tradition.
Mexicans celebrate Christmas from December 12th to Christmas Eve, December 24th. Starting on the 12th, public and private nativity scenes are displayed. Finding a home without one is nearly impossible. Though many are small, some are life-sized. The most extravagant include live animals.
Starting December 12th, children do the Posada Procession. Posada is Inn or Hotel in Spanish. The children carry a candle and clay figurines of
Mary and Joseph from home to home while singing songs.
Tradition holds that the children are told, "There is no room!" at each home. That is until the last one, where they are invited to stay to enjoy food, games, and often fireworks. Piñatas are one of the most common games played.
On Christmas Eve (Noche
Buena), a feast soon ensues at the final 'posada.' Afterwards, Mexicans go to a midnight mass and
usually celebrate with more fireworks.
As a visitor, enjoy watching the celebrations from
any town's centro. That's usually the focal point of holiday celebrations. Always ask locals wherever you're staying. They will welcome your participation.
Though American-style Christmas is making inroads in Mexico, there is plenty of tradition to enjoy.
New Year's Day
Like Christmas, New Year's day is incredibly festive in Mexico. So much more so than in the USA where people just watch a ball in New York City.
Many traditions come from Spain, and elsewhere in the world. Others are uniquely Mexican.
A fun tradition is wearing a particular color of underwear. Tradition dictates you can influence your good
fortune, for the coming year, based on what color underwear (calzoncillos) or
panties (calzones or bragas) you choose.
Wear red to be blessed with love in
the new year. For money and happiness, wear yellow.
Curiously, it’s either love OR money and happiness. White undies signify peace and tranquility (paz y tranquilidad) while blue is for health. Mexicans have a wonderful sense of humor. It's no wonder red and yellow are the two dominant colors worn during New Year Celebrations.
Other traditions include leaving lentil beans on your doorstep for good luck and prosperity.
Another one comes across from the Catalan region of
Spain. Eat twelve grapes and
make twelve wishes in the last 60 seconds of the exiting year. It's harder than you think.
Burn the bad by writing down all the negative stuff of the ending year and burn it.
There are others, too such as putting money in your shoe. The higher the value, the greater reward.
Again, look to the centro plaza for New Year's Celebrations and ask locals for information.
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| Carnaval in Mazatlan |
Carnival (Week leading up to Ash Wednesday)
Most North Americans associate Carnaval or Mardi Gras as a drunk-fest with women cheerfully exposing themselves for a bead necklace in the New Orleans French Quarter.The week of Carnaval changes from year to year as it is dependent on Ash Wednesday, the day of atonement.
Carnaval is celebrated through most of the Catholic-influenced world in one fashion or another. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil is known for having the largest celebration followed by New Orleans, better known as Mardi Gras. Not surprisingly, Mazatlan has the third-largest Carnaval celebration worldwide. Mazatlan features parades down the Malecon, Fireworks, dance parties, Carnaval Queen and El Rey Feo (Ugly King) coronations, and other vibrant festivities.
The celebration of Carnaval happens all throughout Mexico with grand celebrations going on in Ensenada, Vera Cruz, Cozumel and elsewhere. For the rest of the world, Carnaval, as it's mostly called, is a great party celebrated before the Catholic period of Lent. A majority of the festivities happen Friday through Sunday. It ends abruptly during the final minutes on Tuesday just before Ash Wednesday.
Semana Santa/Pasqua (Palm Sunday to Easter and one week after Easter)
While Norte Americanos are busy planning which Mexican beach resort to settle in for Spring Break, Mexicans are making travel plans to be with family.
Semana Santa is the common name for two back-to-back holiday weeks beginning on Palm Sunday. Semana Santa lasts through Easter Saturday. Immediately after, Pascua Begins. Pascua is far more joyous as it is a celebration of the Resurrection.
A large number Mexican-Americans travel to Mexico to be with family during this time. For visitors to Mexico, most cities are crowded, and available hotels are quite difficult to find.
Many savvy overland travelers know to avoid making reservations ahead of time in Mexico except during Semana Santa.
Semana Santa is Mexico's busiest travel week, much like Thanksgiving in the United States. Do plan accordingly.
Presently, the day features parades, fairs, dancing, and fireworks. Think of it the way Americans celebrate July 4th. Many Mexicans use the holiday to gather family and friends together to feast and celebrate. A week prior, streets filled with vendors selling Mexican flags, and other patriotic noisemakers and flashy attire appear everywhere. Traditional dresses and outfits are worn by children.
Originating in Spain, Dia de Los Muertos is not a day of sadness or mourning. Instead, Dia de Los Muertos celebrates the lives of the deceased with food, drink, parties, and activities the dead enjoyed while living. During the celebration, the dead are also a part of the community, awakened from their rest to participate in the celebrations with their family.
Men and women will often elaborately paint their faces, either entirely or half-way during the festival.
The most familiar symbol of Dia de Los Muertos is the calacas and calaveras (skeletons and skulls), which are seen everywhere during the celebration and nearly always portrayed as enjoying life.
Sugar skulls, candy, parade masks, and dolls are all part of celebrating and remembering the dead.
More and more, Dia de Los Muertos is being celebrated in the US just as the Halloween is beginning to take hold in Latin America. While their origins are the same, they are very different holidays.
Two similar, yet fantastic animated films based on the celebration of Dia de Los Muertos are ‘Book of Life and Coco.’
Many savvy overland travelers know to avoid making reservations ahead of time in Mexico except during Semana Santa.
Semana Santa is Mexico's busiest travel week, much like Thanksgiving in the United States. Do plan accordingly.
Septiembre 16 Dia de la Independencia (September 16th)
Ask most Americans what day is Mexican Independence Day, and they’ll tell you, Cinco de Mayo (May 5th). This answer couldn’t be more wrong. September 16th is Mexican Independence Day. It commemorates the day in 1810, Miguel Hidalgo, a parish priest, rang the church bells in the town of Delores to call his parishioners to fight for independence.Presently, the day features parades, fairs, dancing, and fireworks. Think of it the way Americans celebrate July 4th. Many Mexicans use the holiday to gather family and friends together to feast and celebrate. A week prior, streets filled with vendors selling Mexican flags, and other patriotic noisemakers and flashy attire appear everywhere. Traditional dresses and outfits are worn by children.
Dia de Todos los Santos/ Dia del la Muerte (November 1st-2nd)
In Mexico, November 1-2 are both celebrated as Dia de Los Muertos or Day of the Dead.Originating in Spain, Dia de Los Muertos is not a day of sadness or mourning. Instead, Dia de Los Muertos celebrates the lives of the deceased with food, drink, parties, and activities the dead enjoyed while living. During the celebration, the dead are also a part of the community, awakened from their rest to participate in the celebrations with their family.
Men and women will often elaborately paint their faces, either entirely or half-way during the festival.
The most familiar symbol of Dia de Los Muertos is the calacas and calaveras (skeletons and skulls), which are seen everywhere during the celebration and nearly always portrayed as enjoying life.
Sugar skulls, candy, parade masks, and dolls are all part of celebrating and remembering the dead.
More and more, Dia de Los Muertos is being celebrated in the US just as the Halloween is beginning to take hold in Latin America. While their origins are the same, they are very different holidays.
Two similar, yet fantastic animated films based on the celebration of Dia de Los Muertos are ‘Book of Life and Coco.’
Dia de La Raza - October 12th
Coinciding with Columbus Day, Dia De La Raza celebrates the heritage, colonization, and cultural diversity of Latin America. It’s not a major holiday, but it’s not a minor one either. Family get-togethers are common on this day. The day typically features a parade, dances, and feasting.
Bank Holidays:
Expect government offices and banks to be closed on these days.
Dia de la Constitucion (First Monday in February)
Benito Juarez’s Birthday (March 21st)
Maundy Thursday (Thursday before Easter Sunday)
Good Friday (Friday before Easter Sunday)
Dia del Trabajo - Labor Day (May 1st)
Dia de la Independencia (September 16th)
Aniversario de la Revolución Mexicana (Third Monday of November)
Día de la Virgen de Guadalupe (December 12th)
Christmas (December 25th)
Other Minor Holidays:
Dia International de la Mujer - International Women's Day (March 8th)
Dia del Niño - Day of the Children (April 30th)
Dia del Madre – Mother’s Day (May 10th)
Dia del Padre – Father’s Day (3rd Sunday in June)
Day of the Innocents (December 28th)
Whether visiting Mexico for one of these holidays or making your own holiday, getting to your destination is a huge part of the fun. Wondering how much does insurance for Mexico cost? Whether you're looking for Baja Mexican insurance or for the whole country, the best place to Shop, Buy and Print top rated auto insurance is Mexican Insurance Store. Insurance is mandatory and not having it can instantly turn a great holiday into a nightmare. Be smart and get quality insurance at a great price.
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