Zapopan Mayor Juan José Frangie said that almost 27,000 dancers from scores of groups took part in the 2023 Virgin of Zapopan religious procession held on October 12.
The dancers, nearly all dressed in colorful indigenous costumes, accompanied the venerated statue on her journey through Guadalajara’s streets to the Zapopan Basilica in a six-hour ritual that a Guadalajara Roman Catholic diocese spokesperson said drew around two million spectators. (This figure, however, has not been substantiated.)
Frangie thanked the dancers for their dedication and for “keeping this beautiful tradition alive.”
The procession, which dates back to 1734, was inscribed in the United Nations Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2018.