Each December Puerto Vallarta, and all of México, gather together to celebrate the holidays through parties, prayers, festivals, fireworks and song.
Things kick off with the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, December 12th, and the namesake for the church in el Centro of Puerto Vallarta. Mexico is a predominately Catholic country and Our Lady of Guadalupe is the ‘mother’ of all Mexicans as well as most of Latin America. The story goes that in 1531, 10 years after the Spanish conquest of México, she appeared to Juan Diego, an indigenous boy, in the hills outside of México City.
Today, her feast is celebrated with the Fiestas Guadalupanas and features Peregrinaciones or pilgrimages in the 12 days leading up to December 12th. In villages, towns and cities throughout the country, groups march to their local churches honoring the virgen and celebrating her love of the people. In Puerto Vallarta, bands, singing and prayers accompany statues through the streets of El Centro to the Parroquia de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe. At midnight on the 11th, the fiestas culminate with fireworks and midnight Mass.
After that celebration, the holiday’s kick-in full gear with posadas. The Posada means inn and is a references the journey of Mary & Joseph to Bethlehem but more secularly today means hospitality and celebration. Whether family and friends or work and civic groups, posadas occur throughout the Bay to celebrate and be thankful. As with any Mexican celebration they are filled with laughter, music and fireworks that go on to the wee hours of the morning,
Christmas Eve is the most celebrated evening of Christmas with families and friends gathering for a feast which may feature tamales, bacalao, pozole and rompope (mexican egg-nog). Many individuals head to their local church for misa de gallo, midnight mass, which is followed by more fireworks, signing and dancing. Christmas Day tends to be a more low key affair with many Vallartenses heading to the beach to recover from their Christmas Eve festivities.
The Malecon is ground zero for Puerto Vallarta’s New Year’s Celebration. A stage is set where a full slate of entertainers wow the audience with comedy, dance and music. At midnight, the traditional countdown is accompanied with the swallowing of 12 grapes to ensure a joyful and prosperous new year. The bay is awash with fireworks that can be seen from Punta de Mita to Boca de Tomatlán.
The Holiday Season wraps up on January 6th with the celebration of the Three Kings. People gather again and mark the occasion with the Rosca de Reyes. Similar to Kings Cake in New Orleans, the sweet bread has buried in it a small figurine of Jesus. The person who gets the figurine is supposed to host a party on Febraury 2nd, which is the Día de Candelaria.
December truly is the month of celebration in Puerto Vallarta with no shortage of ways to immerse yourself in the spirit and community that makes life in México so special.
Felices Fiestas!