Fall Festivities are Underway!

This weekend marks the start of the the fall festival season here in San Miguel.

It all begins with the procession though town in honor of San Miguel de Archangel (St Michael the Archangel) on Sunday, August 18th.
It’s a highly anticipated event with an elaborate procession throughout the city center (el centro). You’ll see many dancers, colorful banners, traditional outfits, and religious symbols. But you’ll also see a key player in the celebrations: an ox. The ox is raised and then fattened and paraded through town. At the end of the month, he is sacrificed and nourishes participants of the festival as a religious offering.
Sometimes he likes to strut around town and sometimes he puts up a fight, held back by the ropes of multiple men.

The procession leaves from Calzada de la Estacion at noon and continues  onto Canal, Portal Allende, through the Jardin’s esplanade and along Portal Guadalupe toward calle San francisco, then Núñez, Insurgentes and Avenida Guadalupe.