Holy Week Celebrations in Mexico - Dulce Vida Travel

Holy Week
Celebrations
 in Mexico

  Dulce Vida Travel

Semana Santa (Holy Week) is the week leading up to Easter. This is a very
important religious holiday season in Mexico. Religious celebrations are at the

forefront, but, since Mexican schools have two weeks vacation period at this time
(the week of Semana Santa, and the following week, which is referred to as

Semana de Pascua, which means "Easter Week"), it's also a time when Mexican

families head to the beaches and tourist attractions.

Dates of Semana Santa
Semana Santa runs from Palm Sunday (Domingo de Ramos) to Easter Sunday

(Domingo de Pascua), but since students (and some workers) enjoy a two-week
break at this time, the full week preceding Easter as well as the following week

comprise the Semana Santa holiday. The date of Easter changes from year to year.
The date is calculated based on the cycle of the moon and the spring equinox, with

Easter falling on the rst Sunday after the rst full moon occurring on or after the
equinox. To make it easier, here are the dates for Easter for the next few years:

     2020 - April 6 to 12
     2021 - March 29 to April 4

     2022 - April 11 to 17
     2023 - April 3 to 9
     2024 - March 25 to 31

Plan Ahead for 2021 -Travel During Holy Week
Since schools in Mexico have a two-week vacation period for the Easter holiday,
this is effectively spring break for Mexicans. This tends to be the hottest and driest

time of year through most of the country, making the beach a magnet for those
wanting to escape hot city streets. If you're planning to travel to Mexico during this

time, be prepared for crowds on beaches and at tourist attractions, and be sure to
make your hotel and travel reservations well in advance.

Religious Celebrations
The religious observances of Semana Santa do not take a back seat to beach fun,
however. Processions and passion plays take place all through the country, though
different areas celebrate in different ways and certain communities have more

effusive celebrations. Among those places where Holy Week is celebrated en
grande are Taxco, Pátzcuaro, Oaxaca and San Cristobal de las Casas.

Jesus' nal days are evoked in the rituals that take place during the week.

Palm Sunday - Domingo de Ramos
On the Sunday prior to Easter, known as Palm Sunday, the arrival of Jesus in

Jerusalem is commemorated. According to the Bible Jesus rode into Jerusalem on
a donkey and the people in the streets laid down palm branches in his path. In

many towns and villages in Mexico on this day there are processions reenacting

Jesus' triumphal entry, and woven palms are sold outside churches.

Maundy Thursday - Jueves Santo
The Thursday of Holy Week is known as Maundy Thursday or Holy Thursday. This

day commemorates the washing of the feet of the apostles, the Last Supper and

Jesus' arrest in Gethsemane. Some Mexican traditions for Maundy Thursday
include visiting seven churches to recall the vigil the apostles kept in the garden

while Jesus prayed before his arrest, foot-washing ceremonies and of course Mass

with Holy Communion.

Good Friday - Viernes Santo

Good Friday recalls the cruci xion of Christ. On this day there are solemn religious
processions in which statues of Christ and the Virgin Mary are carried through

town. Often the participants of these processions dress in costumes to evoke the

time of Jesus. Passion plays, dramatic recreations of the cruci xion of Christ, are

presented in many communities. The largest takes place in Iztapalapa, south of
Mexico City, where over a million people gather every year for the Via Crucis.

Holy Saturday - Sabado de Gloria

In some places there is a custom of burning Judas in ef gy because of his betrayal
of Jesus, now this has become a festive occasion. Cardboard or paper mache

 gures are constructed, sometimes with recrackers attached, and then burned.

Often the Judas gures are made to look like Satan, but sometimes they are made

to resemble political gures.

Easter Sunday - Domingo de Pascua

You won't come across any mention of the Easter Bunny or chocolate eggs on

Easter Sunday in Mexico. This is generally a day when people go to Mass and

celebrate quietly with their families, though in some places there are festivities
with reworks, and jubilant processions with music and dancing.

Best Places to Celebrate Easter in Mexico
Easter is celebrated throughout the country, but if you want to see some

interesting and unique Mexican celebrations, here are some good destinations to
visit to witness local traditions:

      Cholula, Puebla: In this small town outside of Puebla, the oor of the town

      square is decorated with elaborately designed tapestries made of sand and

       ower petals. A large procession with people carrying religious gures makes
      its way around the square, walking over the tapestry and destroying it as they

      go.

      Oaxaca, Oaxaca: on Good Friday, a silent procession winds its way through
      the city streets, many of the participants carry religious gures and some

      wear pointed hoods. These hoods may remind you of the Ku Klux Klan, but

      they actually predate the klan and have their origin in Spain. The hoods

      represent the wearer's repentance for their sins.
      San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato: On Good Friday, locals wrap strings of

       recrackers around gures made of paper mache that are called Judases,

      but often represent political gures or other important and controversial
      personalities. The re crackers are set off and crowds of people enjoy the

      spectacle of the burning paper mache gures.

      Mexico City: The town of Iztapalapa, just outside Mexico City, is the scene of

      one of the most elaborate and fervent Passion Plays. Participants take the
      dramatization very seriously and spend months preparing to take on the

      roles of Jesus, the Virgin Mary, Roman soldiers and more, In the city proper,

      traf c is lessened and the vibe is more laid back during the two weeks of the
      Semana Santa break than any other time of year as many city dwellers

      abandon the city to travel, making this an ideal time to enjoy the city without

      the crowds..

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Semana Santa Article was Published by:

Semana Santa Traditions BY SUZANNE BARBEZAT Updated 02/29/20.