Just like everyone warned me, it is best to have tickets to some actual shows during the Festival Cervantino in Guanajuato. However, I still wanted to check out the scene. The arts festivals here in my town have been so amazing, and this Cervantes festival is much more famous. So, while I was prepared and happy to just walk around for a day and enjoy the loveliness that is Guanajuato, a part of me did expect more street performances and better exhibitions. I could very well be that I just missed all the good spots, but Mike and I covered a lot of territory and went in everything that was open and free that we could find. That’s what I get for planning nothing, except arranging transportation. Overall, Guanajuato is so nice and the weather this time of year is so perfect that it was a great day.
What they did have was a lot of booths selling items for Day of the Dead. For me, walking around and seeing crafts, especially focused on the art of Day of the Dead, could keep me entertained for more than a few days. The pressed sugar offerings for altars are wild and amazing in terms of quantity and design. Maybe I’m just not integrated enough, but I don’t feel like I should have a personal altar because it doesn’t have the appropriate meaning to me. So, I didn’t buy anything for an altar. I did get some (more) paper skeletons to hang up.
Towards the end of the day we sat down to listen to a band play, and then a group from Colima started performing what struck me as something like a Mexican kabuki play. I did a tiny bit of research on the web, and there does seem to be a mask tradition from Colima, but I am going to have to research more and ask around about what this was. Even though I could understand most of the Spanish, I had no idea what was going on, but their masks were great and I had a good spot for some photos. I took all 3 of my lens with me, but mostly played around some more with the big zoom lens.
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