Ajijic’s unbridled salute to spiritual patron Saint Andrew the Apostle blasts off Thursday, November 21, continuing on a festive roll through the end of the month.
The fiestas patronales encompass both traditional religious activities scheduled by the San Andrés parish church and the boisterous secular celebration centered at the village plaza. The festivities are customarily punctuated by ear-splitting cohetes (skyrockets) fired off day and night at frequent intervals.
The prelude to the novenario (nine-day celebration) is a picturesque religious parade held on November 21. A line-up of carros alegoricos (scenic floats) depicting sacred themes, troupes of ritual dancers, marching musicians and faithful pilgrims will depart from the back entrance of the church on Calle Galeana around 5 p.m., following a winding route around the town traced by the steady din of cohetes ignited along the way.
Formal observances begin on November 22, coincidentally falling on the Feast of Santa Cecilia, patroness of musicians. Thus, the festivities initiate at daybreak as musical combos roam the streets tooting out festive door-to-door wakeup calls.
From that day forward, members of the gremio (worker guild) that sponsors activities on any given date will gather at dusk to lead a candlelight procession, traveling Calle Hidalgo from Seis Esquinas to the San Andrés parish as the lead-in to the 7 p.m. celebration of Mass.
The spiritual celebration provides a framework for continuous communal revelry. Following the evening church service, throngs congregate at the plaza to socialize, dine on typical foods, fuel up on firewater and dance to the beat of live bands..Youngsters get their kicks from swirling on mechanical rides, trying their luck at games of chance and pelting one another with cascarones (confetti-filled egg shells).
Folks also gravitate to itinerant street vendors hawking all sorts of merchandise from stalls set up near the plaza. Most nights, dazzling castillo fireworks displays will light up the church atrium between 10:30 and 11 p.m.
Another fiesta attraction is the series of informal bull-riding contests complemented by live banda music for dancing, taking place most afternoons at the local lienzo charro arena from 4 p.m.