Ajijic will usher in the New Year with the Friday, January 1 wild and whacky Desfile de Año Nuevo, an event guaranteed to allay the worst possible morning-after funk.
This relatively new village tradition took root about 15 years ago when residents of the heavily populated west end Barrio de Guadalajara cooked up the idea of holding a friendly soccer match as a way to dispel day-to-day antagonisms that had built up between young people residing at opposite ends of the neighborhood.
As a prelude to the game held at the waterfront Tecoluta playing field, the team from Calle Francisco Villa met up with the one from Alvaro Obregón at Seis Esquinas (Six Corners) to take a spin through the streets.
Since then, the “Tecoluta Bowl” pre-game parade has since taken on a life of its own, evolving into another challenge for the rival groups to out-do one another in putting on a zany cavalcade winding all around the town.
Different clans meet weeks in advance to dream up entertaining themes, design ingeniously decorated floats and create whimsical costumes for the spectacle. Everything is prepared behind closed doors in hush-hush fashion, building anticipation of delightful surprises awaiting spectators along the route.
The parade starts at Seis Equinas, heads east on Ocampo and usually loops back through the center of town, past the plaza and back to the beginning via Hidalgo. It kicks off punctually once everyone is ready to go, which (based on past experience) could happen any time between noon and 1 p.m.
Once back at the starting point, the crazy entourage heads off to the waterfront for a final spin around the soccer field prior to the afternoon of futbol and frolicking that will keep neighbors in high spirits for the remainder of the day and set a tone of camaraderie and good will meant to last the entire year.