Householders in upper Ajijic will take a break from regular routines on January 20 to pay tribute to neighborhood patron saint San Sebastián. The one-day celebration stands out for a quirky mix of religious devotion, communal feasting and collective mayhem.
The action starts at daybreak when the image of twice-martyred Saint Sebastian is removed from a niche in the Rosario Chapel to be showcased for the day in street corner shrine at the corner of Emiliano Zapata and Marcos Castellanos. Following a religious service at that spot, neighbors sit down together for a street breakfast prepared by a team of local housewives. Others cook up typical comida fare for a full meal dished out at midday, while the barrio’s bakers turn out frosted loaves of tachihual, the rustic bread rounds that are a signature of the occasion.
Around 4 p.m. floats, paraders and marching musicians line up to escort San Sebastián back to the plaza, with madcap Sayaca dancers dashing ahead of the cavalcade to pitch showers of confetti and flour over onlookers and the band of rowdy children that taunt them along the way.
After some Sayaca dancing antics outside the chapel, the crowd heads back to the barrio to cut loose in the accustomed papaqui, a traditional pseudo-battle with confetti filled eggs employed as weaponry. Live music and free samplings of homemade alcohol-laced punch keep the fiesta frenzy going well into the night.