Fiesta of Our Lady of Solitude
Our Lady of Solitude, Fiesta of
Preparations for the fiesta begin several days before December 18, when carnival rides and food and gambling booths are set up in the vicinity of the church. For several evenings there are calendas, processions of men and women carrying colored paper lanterns illuminated by candles and poles topped with figures of birds, boats, and other objects made out of flowers, leaves, or colored paper. There are also floats with various themes and huge papier-mâchÉ caricatures of well-known individuals.
Thousands of pilgrims come from all over the state of Oaxaca to see the Virgin, who is dressed in velvet and satin gowns and who wears an emerald-and-diamond-studded crown for the fiesta. Despite her elegant attire, however, she is the patron saint of Mexican sailors, and a folktale holds that she often disappears from her niche at night and comes back at daybreak wet with drops of sea water.
Mexico Tourism Board
21 E. 63rd St., Fl. 3
New York, NY 10021
800-446-3942 or 212-821-0314; fax: 212-821-0367
www.visitmexico.com
FiestaTime-1965, p. 182