Thursday, February 9, 2012

Lady of Guadalupe festival in Puerto Vallarta

Hola amigos!  I want to share with you my experience during Lady of Guadalupe Festival last December 2011.  A special thanks to my friends James and Linda Schmidt for walking all the way with my girlfriend and me and sharing a very special dinner.

I will say that is always exciting and touching to see all the people performing and walking to the church as a way to say thanks for all the goods during the year. Most of the families start rehearsing their performance 3 months before the festivities!
Who performs during the festivities?
All kind of people and families!
  • Hotels
  • Schools
  • Hospitals
  • Fishermen
  • Tour operators
  • Local business
Some of them just walk along Juarez street singing the popular songs like "La Guadalupana"with banners and flowers as gifts,and some of them dressed with prehispanic outfits and performing ancient dances.
It is quite cultural and fun.
After 6:00pm Juarez street is pack with food and dessert stands that delight locals and tourists during the festivities!
Here are my pictures:
Enjoy the Slide-show!

I took this fragment form WIKIPEDIA about the story of Our Lady of Guadalupe:
According to Roman Catholic tradition, on December 9, 1531, Juan Diego, a recently converted Aztec indigenous peasant, had a vision of a young woman while he was on a hill in the Tepeyac desert, near Mexico City. The lady asked him to build a church exactly on the spot where they were standing. He told the local Bishop Juan de Zumarraga, who asked for proof in exchange.
Juan Diego went back later and saw the lady again. He told her that the bishop wanted proof, and she instructed Juan Diego to go to the mountain top, where he found Castillian roses, which were native to Bishop Juan de Zumarraga's hometown and could not possibly bloom during wintertime. Juan Diego cut the roses, placed them in his apron-like tilma and returned to the bishop; an imprint of the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared on the tilma from the residue of the soil and roses.
Today, the icon is displayed in the nearby Basilica of Guadalupe, now one of the most visited Catholic shrines in the world.The Virgin of Guadalupe is Mexico's most popular religious and cultural image, with the titles "Queen of Mexico","Empress of the Americas",and "Patroness of the Americas".Both Miguel Hidalgo (in the Mexican War of Independence) and Emiliano Zapata (during the Mexican Revolution) carried flags bearing the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe, and Guadalupe Victoria, the first Mexican president, changed his name in honor of the icon.

Stay tuned for my next special report! 

Your amigo in P.V:    Juan Carlos.


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