Among the many challenges native-born lakeside inhabitants have faced during the long months of the Covid-19 pandemic has been sacrificing traditional festivities that are woven into the social fabric of each community,
particularly those that are tied in with spiritual beliefs. Under normal circumstances, January’s calendar of customary happenings would include westside Ajijic’s light-hearted Año Nuevo Desfile (New Year’s Day Parade) on January 1; the ubiquitous Día de Reyes (Three Kings Day) parties thrown for kids on January 6; Jocotepec’s Fiestas Patronales honoring El Señor del Monte, running in early January through the third Sunday of the month; and upper Ajijic’s January 20 Fiesta de San Sebastián. The Jocotepec celebrations will take place, scaled back to strictly religious activities with health precautions imposed. At press time, organizers for the other festivities were still up in the air on whether to modify plans to control crowd size or play it safe with outright cancellations.