Ixtlahuacan de los Membrillos is one of the numerous Mexican towns that embrace Santo Santiago (St. James the Greater) as patron saint.
Wrapped into the lively festivities underway through Wednesday, July 25 are the colorful religious processions taking place every morning and afternoon, nighttime entertainment and fireworks at the central plaza and round-the-clock street fair booths stocked with food, drink, crafts and miscellanea. Intrepid Mexicophiles can venture to Lake Chapala’s south shore to catch the Santiago celebration in Sahuayo, Michoacan. Go there on July 21, 28, 30, August 2 and 4 to see the masked Tlahualiles do their thing. Outfitted in giant headdresses, the spectacular ritual dancers parade through the streets from noon to midnight, enacting mock battles in which a sword-wielding Santiago (the Moor Slayer) pits himself against evil pagan forces.