The Other Guelaguetza in Santa Maria del Tule: Affordable and Accessible
Access to the BIG Guelaguetza under the big top on the Cerro del Fortin of Oaxaca, Mexico, is limited to those who can a) afford to buy a ticket at 1,121 pesos and 908 pesos each plus Ticketmaster fees, and b) those who can stand in line overnight for the limited number of upper deck seats […]
Lila Downs Concert Is Mini-Guelaguetza Extravaganza
How could each Lila Downs Concert be better then those that came before? The Best Ever is what I heard people say who have gone to many in the past. I don’t know, but Lila Downs knows how to dazzle a crowd. The Guelaguetza Stadium on the Cerro Fortin in Oaxaca city was full on […]
Getting Ready for Guelaguetza 2016: The Show Must Go On
Recognizing the upcoming annual Oaxaca celebration of Guelaguetza, a unique interpretation of Zapotec mutual support, sharing and indigenous community sustainability, I have changed the blog banner. In show biz, the standard is The Show Must Go On when something can interrupt a performance. (I grew up just outside of Hollywood; I know what this means.) […]
Celebrating 50 Years of Marriage in Teotitlan del Valle: Felicidades Gloria y Porfirio
Family is more than important here in Teotitlan del Valle. Being and staying connected, committed to each other’s well-being, is a way of life. The social fiber of the village is based upon maintaining strong family ties and mutual support. That manifests by participating in ancient rituals and celebrations tied to life cycle events such […]
24-Hour Oaxaca Textile Web Event: Tuxtepec Huipiles Sale
Buy before 2 p.m. Central Daylight Time (tomorrow) November 4. I will bring your purchase(s) to the U.S.A. when I travel on Thursday morning and ship from California to anywhere in the U.S.A. early next week. Shipping included in price. I’m making this unexpected trip to help care for our mom. Must be prepaid with […]
Soft Landing Oaxaca, and Teotitlan del Valle
It’s a four-and-a-half hour bus ride from Puebla CAPU to Oaxaca ADO bus station. Taxi from Puebla historic center to CAPU is 80 pesos. Bus ticket is about 450 pesos on ADO GL deluxe service. Easy. Scenic. The road dips and rises through mountains studded with mature saguaro and nopal cactus, flowing river beds (it’s […]
Tuxtepec, Oaxaca: Huipils, Dance of the Pineapple Flower and Guelaguetza
Oaxaca’s July Guelaguetza features some of the most glorious traje — indigenous dress — throughout the state. But few, if any, surpass the beauty from the state of Tuxtepec. I am on a textile tour to discover the artistry of some of Oaxaca’s most remote villages. The evening our group arrives in Tuxtepec from […]
Peace and Quiet in Teotitlan del Valle, Except for an Earthquake
The Guelaguetza crowds were staggering. Oaxaca city was clogged with foot and street traffic. There was excitement, band music, the sizzle of street food, parades of elegantly dress women from the villages, and more shopping overload than any accomplished shopaholic could need or want. With enough stimulation to last me weeks, I decided to leave […]
Oaxaca Street Life: Guelaguetza Crush, Art and Expoventas
Thousands of people converge on the streets of Oaxaca for Guelaguetza. Only 11,000 were in the Guelaguetza auditorium to hear Lila Downs last night. The rest were visitors strolling Macedonio Alcala, the walking avenue between the Zocalo and Santo Domingo Church, and roaming vendors selling everything from fragrant azucenas that only bloom at night to […]
Guelaguetza 2014 Photo Out-takes — Oaxaca Folkloric Fesitval Dazzles Crowd
It’s more like a party than a traditional performance. Oaxaca’s annual Guelaguetza folkloric festival draws crowds from throughout Mexico and all over the world. If you hang around the stage at the end while most of the crowds leave, you might be handed a small cane cup filled with mezcal and get a close-up […]
Oaxaca’s Guelaguetza 2014 Thrills Crowds, Still Controversial
Tickets to sit close to Oaxaca’s Guelaguetza Auditorium stage are costly, about $100 USD per person. Up high in the upper galleries, the seats are free and people start lining up hours in advance of the opening to be able to capture one. The controversy lies in the accessibility to this annual folkloric performance […]
Uriel and Rosalia’s Zapotec Wedding, Oaxaca, Mexico
The church wedding is an important part of Zapotec community life. Often, a couple will have a civil marriage ceremony and begin their family as Rosalia and Uriel did three years ago. Their dream will be to save enough to hold a religious service that recognizes their marriage in the eyes of God. Their young children […]
Oaxaca Guelaguetza 2013: Photographs and Impressions
Guelaguetza on the Hill is a big, professional production. Villages from throughout Oaxaca state are invited to present their unique traditional traje (dress), music and dance traditions which are bound to centuries old cultural customs and conquest history. For textile lovers, it’s a chance to see an array of beautifully woven, embroidered and embellished […]
Oaxaca Guelaguetza is Authentic: True or False? and Tickets
The week-long Guelaguetza, the last two Mondays in July folkloric dance event on the Cerro Fortin, is Oaxaca’s biggest tourist event of the year. Tickets for reserved seats are expensive, from 900 to 1,250 pesos, and now also hard to come by. There are two performances left, one at 10 a.m. and one at […]
Oaxaca Guelaguetza: 2013 Folkloric Festival
They call it Mondays on the Hill. The original Zapotec meaning of Guelaguetza is transformed into a folkloric dance festival held in the auditorium on the Cerro del Fortin on the last two Mondays in July each year (except when the date falls on Benito Juarez’ birthday). There are two performances today, Monday, July 22, […]
Guelaguetza Photography Workshop in Oaxaca, Mexico
7 nights, 8 days, July 26-August 2, 2013. Our Guelaguetza Photography Workshop gives you an opportunity to capture indigenous folkloric traditions and build upon your photography skills. Guelaguetza is a magical time in Oaxaca when indigenous people come to the city from throughout the rural areas of the state adorned in their finest handmade traje (indigenous dress). On […]
Let the Parade Begin: Zapotec Weddings in Teotitlan
The preparation begins days, even months ahead. A few days before, the party truck pulls up to deliver hundreds of chairs and raise the huge red and blue striped tent that will cover the courtyard. The wedding celebration is about to begin. On the morning of the wedding, the couple welcomes their relatives in the […]
Posadas in Teotitlan del Valle
Christmas in Teotitlan del Valle starts nine days before with posadas (procession) every night. The nine days represents nine months of Mary’s pregnancy, according to my Zapotec friends. On the first night, the baby Jesus is taken out of the creche in the church along with Mary and Joseph and carried through the streets under […]