La Peñita Fair

Each town in our area has its patron saint and usually the town will associates with that a major celebration called Fiestas Patronales del Pueblo.

In La Peñita it takes the following form:

The patron saint of La Peñita is the virgin of Talpa (la Virgen de Talpa or Rosario de Talpa or la virgen patronal or la patrona del pueblo), of course she is also the patroness of Talpa de Allende.

There are 9 days of festivities starting on the 12 of May and ending on May 20th.  The plaza is decked out with its usual rides and games.

Each day a neighbourhood, or a couple of neighbourhoods or a community group forms a parade from their neighbourhood to the plaza arriving in time for an 8 p.m. mass.  The parade is called a peregrinación.  It is usually led by a decorated car which will carry an image of the virgin.  Community members follow; some in costumes like Jesus, Mary on a donkey and/or Joseph.  Often dancers in various costume will also be part of the parade.  At the Church mass is held for about an hour.  A band plays in the square after mass and people dance free of charge for an hour or two.  Then the fire works start.  There is a tower of fireworks (el Castillo) and often a bull (el torrito) with fireworks attached.  Animal lovers don’t worry; it is actually a person in a bull costume.   You might want to be a bit careful about getting too close since the fireworks often go in various directions so people have to dodge them.  I am told this is all part of the fun.  It sounds a bit dangerous.

At 5 a.m. in the morning their is an offering of song to the virgin of Talpa. The band again plays and people sing standard songs for the event.  This called the alva.

The first day belongs to the northern most neighborhoods Colonias Pescadores and Cedros.  That is from the cemetery to the bridge on Bahia de Acapulco.
Watch for signs to be posted prior to the festivities with the schedule or ask in your neighborhood the date of your particular event.   The lavishness of the fireworks and costumes depends on the funds the community was able to raise.  Our community, Colonia Pescadores in 2009 assessed each household 250 pesos to fund the event.  It is not mandatory to pay and even if you are away before the event it would be good form to make the contribution before you leave.

The last day, May 20th, is a bit special.  It is hosted by Colonia Centro which is mostly the merchants of downtown.  Also about noon but sometimes much later there should arrive the torch carried by community members from Talpa.  There is a mens torch and a womens torch.  The community members carry it in relays from Talpa starting a couple of days before, kind of like the Olympic torch..

The Ejidotarios and the fishermen are an example of groups who host a parade but are not neighbourhoods.  The show put on by the fishermen is particularly good.

There is a plethora of information on the web if you search for “The virgin of Talpa” you get a number of hits in English but I found none that were concise enough to include a link.

2009 will be my first year in attendance so the above information is second hand (thanks to Arturo and Soraida).  As usual I would appreciate any corrections, photos, videos, personal experiences…etc.  Contact us?