Santa Maria -
Morelos Puts Heart into Its Festivals
By Julia Taylor © Julia Taylor 2007
What is at the heart of festivals in Mexico? Mexican festivals have something special that those of us non-Mexicans just have to experience to understand. Santa Maria Ahuacatilan, Morelos is the place to experience church centered community celebration. This little town just north of Cuernavaca is maintaining its festival traditions into the 21st century. For me the highlights of these celebrations are the castillos.
Castillos are temporary towers covered with fireworks, which light up in pre-planned succession displaying colored images, shooting golden sparks, spinning, and smoking before the crowd of onlookers. Every stage of the Castillo display brings out a sigh of delight as butterflies turn into swans, and Virgin Maries glow above text imploring her prayers.
Castillos are part of many different church celebrations throughout Mexico, but the ones in Santa Maria go far beyond the ordinary, with two or three towers, spinning crowns, and images that transform as they burn. They are so well done in there that we try to enjoy them all throughout the year with our family. I encourage you to visit Santa Maria during one of its many festivals (listed below).
Arriving in Santa Maria in the afternoon on the day that a castillo will be lit, you'll find the streets bordering the churchyard full. The cobblestones turn your ankles slightly as you thread through the crowd past the mobile bread bakeries and their warm, sweet scents. The sales people offer you a piece of bread so you can tear off a chunk and try its tender, lightly sweetened flavor. You can buy two large loaves of nut bread sprinkled with sesame seeds for $25 pesos and, if you check around a bit, you can get some that are still warm from the oven. You will also pass potato chip sales carts and corn-on-the-cob stands where you can get your corn on a stick slathered with your choice of a combination of mayonnaise, cheese, and chili or salt and lemon. Further down the road, the mechanical rides for children fill the streets so much that you have to squeeze between them and the walls of the bordering houses.
In the churchyard of the Iglesia Santa Maria de la Asuncion, the Mexican cypress trees stand tall over the castillo assembly process. Men use a huge jack to stack cubes made of one-by-ones one on top of the other. As the tower grows upward, they assemble the various wire racks, mounted with hand-packed fireworks that will be the display.
You can spend the afternoon by enjoying mass, resting in the churchyard, playing on the rides, and eating the various treats being sold. At nine o'clock, it's dark and it's time join the loosely packed crowd in the church yard because the lights are turned out and the castillo is about to be lit. Choose a spot toward the back of the crowd for safety and be ready to be pleasantly surprised.
The castillo display was initiated by the sucking boom of a large firework being shot out of a launch tube to the left of the crowd. We flinched in surprise, then looked up to see a purple and golden plume blooming overhead while the crackle of fireworks filled the air. Next the middle tower of the castillo in front of us lit up showing a glowing peacock, spinning slowly on its mount. The show went on with a band playing on a stage visible over the churchyard wall, the fireworks alternating with the displays on the castillo until there was a grand finale of fountains of golden sparks raining down from all three castillo towers and multicolored fireworks booming and crackling overhead. We were squinting against the amount of acidic gunpowder smoke billowing around us, smiling, and keeping a weather eye out for hot cinders raining down over the crowd.
Every castillo display is different and worth seeing. You simply cannot imagine one until you've experienced it. I must warn you, though, that first you'll think they are too dangerous to enjoy but after you've seen one of Santa Maria's unique displays, 4th of July fireworks in the U.S. will pale in comparison. (Safety note: If you come to see a castillo in Santa Maria you should leave the church yard as soon as the castillo is over because another fun - but much more dangerous -tradition of running with firework-covered papier mache bulls follows immediately. You must be careful at the gate because the crowd packs into the gateway, pushing to avoid these flaming bulls.)
Naturally, it is the people of Santa Maria who make their castillos and all the rest of their celebrations special. To find out more. . .
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If you have a desire to travel to Mexico, come in August (or for Easter or in May), and see the celebrations in Santa Maria. You can stay in Cuernavaca because Santa Maria is only five minutes up the non-toll highway (called the libre) connecting Cuernavaca to Mexico City. It is so close to Cuernavaca that a really good option is to take the bus route number 12. The creativity, generosity, and enthusiasm of the people of Santa Maria are sure to touch your heart.
Julia Taylor lives in Cuernavaca with her husband and their young son. She is the author of Mexico: The Trick is Living Here, with inside information for those who want to work, live, and retire in Mexico.For more information, visit Home Sweet Mexico.
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