I won’t say that wonderful events don’t happen downtown, because they do. But when things happen out in the neighborhoods they have a character all their own, an organic feel to them – like everyone just chipped in whatever they had that day and said let’s throw a party.
And they do.
It was the birthday of San Felipe this weekend – the WHOLE weekend, from Friday afternoon until 11pm tonight and they didn’t miss a trick. Carnival rides with six different kinds of loud music going all at once. Sirens go non-stop from about noon until it closes.
There’s loco music, bandas, religious processions and masses. Half of the homes in the neighborhood sell some kind of food, sweet, bread, tacos, and ice cream.
Little boys and old men set up tables of games and charge you to play. Mixed in with all it all are tables with people selling groceries, fruit, toilet paper, chips and plastic containers.
People come from all over to play games, ride the rides, eat, dance, pray, carry the saints around the neighborhood singing. They are outside all day and night talking to each other and sometimes you’ll find the tired ones against a wall on the street sleeping.
The neighborhood locos get dressed up and dance all day.
2011 Fiesta, Locos in the Colonia San Felipe from Suzanne da Rosa on Vimeo.
How can one resist buying one of these?
Works of art for only 40 pesos, the size of a pizza.
Or taking the neighborhood kids for a ride on one of these?
Here’s a little movie for the kids -(comind soon) sounds and all –
loco dance music and a banda in the background,
each ride has it’s own music and they are all going at once.
No one seems to mind.