A full day of religious devotions, communal feasting and unbridled revelry will keep Ajijic’s Barrio de San Sebastian awake on Sunday, January 20 as the neighborhood pays tribute to its twice-martyred patron saint.
Sebastian was a Roman captain of the Praetorian Guard who secretly converted many pagans to the Christian faith in the third century A.D. For that the Emperor Diocletian ordered his execution by cadre of ace archers. He survived the barrage of arrows and was nursed back to health by a Christian widow named Irene. After recovering from his wounds, Sebastian denounced the emperor for his cruelty. Diocletian retaliated by having him beaten to death. Attributed with a number of miraculous healings, Sebastian is commonly invoked for protection against disease and plague.
The festivities start just after dawn when devotees congregate at the Rosario Chapel on the town plaza to retrieve an antique statue of Saint Sebastian that will be ensconced in a shrine at the corner of Emiliano Zapata and Marcos Castellanos for a 7 a.m. celebration of the mass.
Following the service, neighborhood families will set up tables and chairs to dish out free breakfast fare for the crowd. A second communal meal is served around 2 p.m.
The celebration shifts into high gear around 4 p.m. as folks gather for a colorful procession to carry the image home again. The route runs east along Emiliano Zapata, turns south on Javier Mina, crosses the highway and doubles back to the plaza along Guadalupe Victoria.
Spectators will see men toting large clay pots filled with typical feasting foods and long boards laden with round loaves of home-baked tachihual bread adorned with white frosting, red sugar sprinkles and sweets. A string of floats will depict the martyred saint and carry neighborhood beauty queens representing the ancient legend of an indigenous princess who bathed in El Ojo del Agua, a nearby natural spring that is said to have inspired the town’s name. With a marching band marking the beat, masked Sayaca dancers join the cavalcade, pitching out confetti and flour as they chase down the gang of giggling youngsters who taunt them along the way.
Upon arrival at the chapel, the Sayacas keep up their antics just outside while the saint is lovingly put back in place. The crowd then heads up Colon to regroup for the lively street party that ensues.
Homemade fruit punch laced with alcohol is dispensed to fuel up spirits as everyone readies to engage in the Papaqui, a frenzied mock battle in which cascarones--brightly decorated egg shells stuffed with confetti--are employed as weapons.
The throng mills about in anticipation until local matriarchs step up to the mike to sing a traditional song filled with humorous references to San Sebastian. With that signal, the mayhem begins as young and old happily scramble about pelting one another as long as the egg supply lasts.
Once the skirmish ends, a live band takes the stage to crank out tunes for the street dance that will keep the barrio rocking for several hours longer.
Although the exact historical background of the local fiesta remains unknown, it goes back many generations according to Irene Martinez and other local ladies who have made the effort to revive its age-old customs in recent years. It bears many similarities to traditional festivities celebrated in Tuxpan, Jalisco and the Papaqui del Guerito San Sebastian held in Nochistlan de Mejia, Zacatecas and. The papaqui, tachihual bread and revelers called Xayacates also figure into traditional festivities in nearby Tlajolmulco.