As our one-week August vacation was nearing an end in Zacatecas, Mexico, my wife Sarah and I had been to around 20 dance performances around the colonial city during the weeklong International Dance Festival.
In between the heavy dose of world culture, from Poland to the Canary Islands, France, Chile and all over Mexico, we felt fortunate to have such a rich blast of culture at our fingertips. And it was all free.
The festival winds down with a colossal parade through town where townspeople flood the main drag of downtown for a view of the action.
Zacatecas is an easy city to visit on foot. The curvy, winding streets offer a colorful, rich blend of both shops and street vendors with benches sprinkled all over the city for rest stops. We found one street vendor who sold all kinds of copperware, from tiny, miniature toys and bowls, to large kettles and huge cook pots. I bought a cooking apron from a street vendor who was doing a brisk business. It cost around $12. I saw the identical apron, with the colorful letters ZACATECAS embroidered on the front a week later in a supermarket in Watsonville for twice the price.
Several times was passed by a friendly street vendor with his burro named Frank in tow. He offered some form of alcoholic beverage in large wooden jugs strapped to the burro’s back. Almost every evening we stumbled on loud, wandering parties known as callejoneada. They are typically a wedding or birthday celebration that incorporate live musicians, dancing and a burro who carries the drinks. Anyone can stop and join in and be part of the mobile celebration.
Open air markets in Mexico are one of the biggest draws for us. From Oaxaca to Mexico City, Chiapas, Ensenada or Veracruz, the markets are often the town hub, the heart of Mexico that all else seems to revolve around. Blend that in with the weeklong open air dance festival in Zacatecas, street musicians, tasty gorditas, and dramatic early day architecture and it’s quite the mix.
In the final chapter of my story, I’ll share photos of the dance festival finale.
