Full-tilt party time is on the horizon as Chapala and Ajijic warm up for lively Carnaval festivities that build up to a final blowout on Tuesday, February 28, this year’s date for Mardi Gras celebrations around the globe.
The opener for Chapala’s biggest annual fiesta period is the traditional Entierro del Mal Humor (burial of ill humor), coming up Friday, February 17. It begins with a high-spirited parade running a full loop along Avenida Madero before jogging off to Paseo Ramón Corona and the gates of this year’s new fairgrounds location at the east end of the thoroughfare in the Acapulquito restaurant zone. The official starting time is set at 7 p.m., but strict punctuality should not be expected.
Leading the entourage are hooded funeral marchers carrying the coffin filled with bad vibes that will be torched where the parade ends to fire up festive spirits. The crowd of revelers will squeeze into the Carnaval nucleus for the coronation of the Rey Feo (Ugly King), the monarch who will rule over 12 days of mayhem.
Since lots of loud music is the engine that drives Carnaval Chapala, the program is loaded with a variety of concerts, some free with the price of admission, others requiring the purchase of tickets for entry.
To get things rolling, Banda El Pueblito will perform for the opening night dance party. A Rap Fest is scheduled for Saturday, February 18, from 4 p.m. Los Angeles Azules are booked for Sunday, February 19, 4 p.m.
Entrance to the Carnaval fairgrounds is customarily free on opening night. Admission fees of 35 pesos for adults and 25 pesos kids apply on all other dates. Inside the gates, open from afternoon until the wee hours, visitors will find stands offering a variety of foods, bar service, assorted merchandise, games of chance and mechanical rides. A circus tent and horse and dog shows will also set up on the premises.
Carnaval in Ajijic
Ajijic simultaneously cuts loose with its own distinctive Carnaval festivities revolving around Los Toros, daring confrontations between men and bulls where would-be cowpokes do their best to ride the beasts while local charro horsemen demonstrate their skills at rounding and roping.
Spectators take in the action while swilling down intoxicating libations and shaking a leg to the high-decibel beat of banda music. The late afternoon hoedowns are held on consecutive Sundays, starting around 4 p.m., at the Lienzo Charro, located on Calle Revolucion, where the weekly tianguis market sets up every Wednesday.
The build-up for each day’s main event starts with the traditional Toro de Once, a custom derived from yesteryear when the livestock raisers used to drive the bulls into town on horseback, herding the animals through the streets early in the day to show off the quality of the stock.
Nowadays Ajijic’s Toro de Once centers mainly on a madcap parade of bizarrely outfitted masked marauders known Sayacos. The contingency of masked marauders dressed up as busty broads or bearded gents, dance through the streets as groups of giggling children chase and taunt them. The Sayacos respond by chasing down the kids to douse them (and any number of innocent bystanders) with confetti or baking flour stashed in their purses and shoulder bags.
The crazy cavalcade starts every day, around 11 a.m., winding through the main streets to end at the Lienzo for a brief interlude of dancing and baby bull riding in the ring.
Afterwards revelers gather at the plaza for the Recibimiento, a reception local charros host for the ranchers who truck in the day’s livestock.
Check next week’s Reporter for more details on Carnaval happenings.