As Chapala heads towards the October 4 end of celebrations honoring patron saint San Francisco de Asís, Ajijic is already gearing up for the first of its fall religious festivities, a 31-day tribute to La Virgen del Rosario.

The liturgical calendar marks October 7 as the feast Our Lady of the Rosario. Ajijic, however, dedicates the entire month of October to the avocation of Mary recognized as the town’s divine guardian for two and a half centuries.

Festivities for San Andrés Apostol, the town’s official spiritual patron, run for only nine days at the end of November.

Daily devotions for Nuestra Señora del Rosario begin at dawn when a round of skyrockets sounds the wake-up call for villagers to gather in one of the pueblo’s five barrios for the traditional Mañanitas procession to the San Andrés church for a rosary prayer service.

For the October 31 finale, the antique figure of the Virgin, shown embracing the infant Jesus and draped in rosary beads, is paraded around town on a huge bier accompanied by ritual dancers, marching musicians, and a throng of pilgrims prior to 7 p.m. mass. Afterward, crowds fill the plaza for a lively town fair highlighted by the ignition of glittering Castillo fireworks tower lighting up the night sky.

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