Virgin of Zapopan

One of the most important religious festivals of the year in Guadalajara is on the 12 October. This is when the Virgin of Zapopan is taken from the main Cathedral in the centre of the city to the Basilica in Zapopan (about 7 kms away).  Local papers report that around 2 million people take part in the procession. The virgin placed in an impressive carriage and a huge procession of native dancers in the most amazing costumes follow her. 

 I was very keen to witness this celebration, so I met with two friends at 5.30am and we caught a taxi into the centre of town.  The city was buzzing.  Thousands of people had slept in the streets overnight, ready for the big day. The cathedral and the plaza outside were packed.  We were lucky enough to be able to get reasonably close so that we could see when the virgin was brought out on the cathedral and put into her carriage for the journey to Zapopan. 

Then we witnessed the amazing parade that went for over an hour.  Feathers, beads, costumes of every colour you could imagine.  The dancers proudly paraded and danced by.  Many of the dancers had metal plates on their feet, so that combined with the music and drums added to the impact of the spectacle. It was still very dark, so with fingers crossed I snapped as many pictures as I could and hoped they turned out.

Once all the dancers had passed by, we joined the throngs of people on the journey to the Basilica in Zapopan.  As awe walked, we were kept entertained by the different groups giving displays of dancing on the way.  The atmosphere was that of a family celebration. Three and four generations of families, strolling along, enjoying all the different foods and drinks from the stalls that lined the streets.  Considering the thousands of people, if was very calm, everyone taking their time and enjoying the day. 

Once we got near the end, the procession became very congested, and progress was extremely slow.  However at around 11.30am in the morning we finally arrived at Zapopan.  Here we passed through about 5 arches decorated with palms and flowers.  There was possible way that we could get in to the plaza in front of the Basilica.  There were so many people.  However, we did manage to get to the edge of the Plaza and in the distance we would see the Virgin being handed over to the priests from the Basilica.