Rodrigo Díaz Guerrero
It is said that this tradition is more than a hundred years old, and that it was once called “The Flower Festival”, a moment when the streets and temples (later in the arcades of the main Jardín), are flooded with people gathered to buy or sell plants on Candelaria Day. The Candelaria Festival has grown and, at the same time, preserved its natural spirit. It’s a two week-long festivity in which, in addition to the sale of plants, flowers, pots, soil, fertilizers, etc., from nurseries and exhibitors from all over the country, there are also cultural and artistic events in town, such as regional music concerts, plays, and dance group performances by local talent and guest artists from other parts of the country.
But one of the things that is most relevant to those who are part of the Candelaria Festival – and that is an indisputable reason for its existence- is the religious component: from the night of February 1st to the dawn of the 2nd, caravans of pilgrims from all over Guanajuato, moved by spiritual conviction, arrive to Benito Juárez Park (the venue par excellence for this event, although this year in particular it will be changed to Zeferino Gutiérrez Park), armed with songs, jaranas, copal, and flower arrangements with which they will make, until the sun rises, the beautiful súchiles -altarpieces made, predominantly, of cucharilla (a regional plant)- which are then placed on and around the park’s Cross, as a religious offering.
The first day of the Festival is also an event in which attendees perform a ceremony of thanksgiving and veneration with songs and praises, rituals and prayers dedicated to the Holy Cross and the Virgin of Candelaria. An evening where Mexican syncretism is experienced at its best: smell of copal, sound of ancestral chants, weaving of altarpieces by expert hands, green, red, and sweet tamales, atole to keep warm. All of this makes those who participate in the festival feel carried away by the whirlwind of time and history, the richness of a tradition that must be admired and cared for, because it is part of our identity as Mexicans.
And the day continues: the following morning, after the traditional mass in the San Antonio church, the participants perform the ceremony of the blessing of the plants and seeds, hoping for a good harvest in the spring. The concheros of the Valle del Maíz are present, performing pre-Hispanic dances, and members of all nearby communities participate as well.
The 68th edition of the Candelaria Festival will take place from February 1st to the 15th in Zeferino Gutiérrez Park, and it will surely attract hundreds of people drawn by the fascinating amount of plants, flowers and gardening supplies available, and by the cultural and artistic program prepared for the occasion. We encourage the reader to penetrate the entrails of the Festival and participate in a centennial tradition so dear to our community and its history. Bring home an indelible memory: the aroma and color of the flowers, cared for since the blessing of the seeds.
