For most people living on the American continent, October 12 is Dia de la Raza (or Columbus Day), a solemn holiday marking that culture-shattering autumn day when Cristobal Colon first set foot in the New World.
In Guadalajara, the memory of the Italian navigator is dismissed without sympathy, as all eyes turn to a venerated 400-year-old religious statue, whose mere presence on the streets on Sunday will draw an estimated two million spectators.
Just after daybreak, the tiny statue of the Virgin of Zapopan will be wheeled out of the Guadalajara Cathedral, placed carefully on an elaborate float and driven very slowly back to her ancestral home in the Zapopan Basilica.
Escorting the virgin homeward in one of Mexico’s most extraordinary religious processions will be thousands of high-octane ethnic dancers, decked in colorful indigenous costumes. They will have practiced their routines for months. Indeed, the pleasure they get from their activity must be incalculable: How many artists can actually boast of having performed in front of such a huge audience?
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