Mexican Holidays and Festivals in Ajijic,
Mexico
The people of Ajijic, Mexico love to celebrate! Planning
your Ajijic Travel to coincide
with a local Mexican holiday or festival will make your
vacation that much more meaningful.
 The list that follows includes most major
holidays and will help the first time visitor to Lake
Chapala understand the pageantry of local parades and
that everything in the village pretty much come to a stop,
reasons why you may be waking up in the early morning
hours to fireworks, finding a government office, post
office, or bank closed on a weekday.
Gotta love Ajijic Festivals in Mexico!
Every village, town, and bigger cities in Mexico has a
patron saint that is honored annually with a fiesta. In many
cases, these festivals or Mexican holidays come in the form of
a nine-day celebration or novenario, each celebrated in their
own unique way for that locality.
Ajijic's patron saint is San Andres or Saint Andrew. The
Fiestas de San Andres in Ajijic kick off in the middle part of
November for nine nights.
Many celebrations have connections to pre-Hispanic times and
are religious in nature, civic holidays however, represent
historical events of modern times in Mexico. Some businesses,
government offices, schools and banks will close throughout
Mexico for major national holidays. Also such closures occur
during important religious celebrations in Lake Chapala. Many
Ajijic restaurants, the
Wednesday open air markets, supermarkets and small
family-operated grocery stores often stay open for business all
year long.
Because the Ajijic enjoys some of best climate in
the world for retirement as acclaimed by the
National Geographic, events are rarely affected by weather.
Keep your camera close by to get your fill of
Ajijic pictures of
these events and festivals in and around Lake Chapala
Mexico.
For the best Ajijic Lodging take a
look at Casa Preciosa Vacation Rental House
Ajijic.
Mexican holidays in BOLD are are official
national holidays
January
January 1st: New Year’s Day (Año Nuevo) an
official Mexican holiday.
January 6th: Three Kings Day-Epiphany (Día de los Santos Reyes)
day when Mexicans give Christmas presents in accordance with
the arrival of the three wise men bearing gifts to baby Jesus.
This day culminates the Christmas season celebrations.
January 17th: Blessing of farm animals (San Antonio Abad) a
religious holiday during which the Catholic Church allows
animals to enter the church for blessing.
February
February 2nd:
Constitution Day (Aniversario de la
Constitucion) Constitution Day commemorates Mexico's
Constitution, an official holiday (actual day February 5th)
February 2nd: Candlemas Day (Día de la Candelaria) a religious
holiday that is celebrated with processions, dancing,
bullfights in some towns and cities, and the blessing of the
candles and seeds.
February 14th: Valentine’s Day (Día del Amor y la Amistad)
February 19th: Army Day (Día del Ejercito)
February 24th: Flag Day (Día de la Bandera) The Mexican flag is
honored on this national holiday.
February 24th: Mardi Gras (Martes de Carnaval) Carnaval
(known as Mardi Gras elsewhere) is a five-day celebration and
an official Mexican holiday that starts before the Catholic
lent. Celebrated enthusiastically, Carnaval starts the weekend
before Lent and is an amazing time with parades, marching
bands, floats and dancing in the streets.
February 25th: Ash Wednesday (Miercoles de Ceniza) the first
day of Lent occurring forty days before Easter.
March
March 16th: The Birthday of Benito Juárez
(Conmemoracion del Natalicio de Juárez) Birth of Benito
Juárez (actual birthday is March 21st), a highly regarded
Mexican president and national hero, an official Mexican
holiday.
March 18th: Nationalization of the petroleum industry, 1938
(Expropriación Petrolera) The day commemorating the
nationalization Mexico’s oil industry on March 18, 1939. Civic
holiday.
March 19th: Saint Joseph’s Day (Día de San José)
March 22th: World Water Day (Día Mundial del Agua)
April
Semana Santa: Holy week or Semana Santa ends the 40-day period
of Lent. Included in this week’s celebrations are El Jueves
Santo or Maundy Thursday, Viernes Santo or Good Friday, Vigilia
Pascual or Easter Vigil, And culminates with Domingo de
Resurrección or Easter Sunday. One of the Mexican traditions is
for friends and family to break confetti-filled eggs over the
each others heads in the spirit of light hearted fun.
April 3rd: Friday of Sorrows (Viernes de Dolores)
April 5th: Palm Sunday (Domingo de Ramos)
April 9th: Maundy Thursday (Jueves Santo)
April 10th: Good Friday (Viernes Santo)
April 11th: Easter Vigil (Vigilia Pascual)
April 12th: Easter Sunday (Domingo de Resurrección)
April 30th: Children’s Day (Día del Niño)
May
May 1st: Labor Day
(Día del Trabajo) Mexican national holiday
May 3rd: Day of the Holy Cross (Día de la Santa Cruz)
construction workers mount colorfully decorated crosses on
homes and buildings under construction, later there are lonches
and cervezas at the job site.
May 5th: Cinco de Mayo -Battle of Puebla, (Batalla de Puebla)
Mexican national holiday commemorating a Mexican victory
against an invading French army at Puebla in 1862.
May 8th: Birth of Miguel Hiidalgo (Natalicio de Hidalgo)
May 10th: Mother’s Day-Mexico (Día de las Madres) an important
holiday, mothers are a vital part of the fabric of Mexican
culture.
May 15th: Teacher’s Day (Día del Maestro)
May 15th: patron saint of farmers (San Isidro Labrador)
June
June 1st: Navy Day a Mexican holiday that is officially
recognized.
June 5th: World Environment Day (Día Mundial del Medio
Ambiente)
June 7th: Free Press Day (Día de la Libertad de Prensa)
June 21st: Father’s Day (Día del Padre)
June 24th: Saint John the Baptist Day (San Juan Bautista)
religious celebrations, and good hearted fun associated with
getting dunked in water.
June 29th: Fiesta of Saint Peter & Saint Paul (Apóstoles
San Pedro & San Pablo)
July
July 5th: State of Jalisco Election
Day, state legislators and mayors ()
July 15th: Secretary’s Day (Día de la Secretaria)
July 25th: Saint James the Greater (Santo Santiago)
August
August 15th: Assumption of the
Virgin Mary (Asunción de María)
August 22nd: Fireman’s Day (Día del Bombero)
August 27th -September 6th: (Guadalajara’s International
Mariachi Festival) (Encuentro Internacional del Mariachi)
September
 September 1st: Annual State of the Union, the
President delivers the address in the fall, this does not
occur on an exact date.
September 13th: Heroic Defense of Chapultepec, 1847 (Día de los
Niños Heroes) ‘Day of The Children Heros’ in honor of the
sacrifice of young Mexican cadets during the Mexican-American
War 1847.
September 14th: Horseman’s Day (Día del Charro)
September 15th: Cry of Independence, 1810 (Grito de
Dolores)
September 16th: Independence Day (Día de la
Independencia) Celebrates the early morning cry for freedom
that Father Miguel Hidalgo screamed and started the Mexican
revolt against the Spanish crown.
September 27th: End of Independence War, 1821 (Consumación de
la Independencia)
September 29th: Saint Michael Archangel (San Miguel
Arcangel)
October
October, all month: Oktoberfest (Fiestas de Octubre) &
Livestock Fair (Expo Ganadera)
October 7th: Virgin of the Rosary (La Virgen del Rosario)
October 12th: Columbus Day (Día de la Raza) In the U.S., it is
Columbus Day, in Canada it is Thanksgiving and in Latin
American it is El Día de la Raza. Cristóbal Colón is
Christopher Columbus' name in Spanish. 'The Day of the Race'
honors the birth of Mexican and Latin American identity and
culture; it's an amazing history full of both triumph and
tragedy.
October 12th: Guadalajara-Zapopan Pilgrimage (Romeria de
la Virgen de Zapopan)
November
November 1st: All Saints’ Day
(Día de todos Santos)
November 2nd: All Souls’ Day (Día de los Muertos) Mexican
holiday that weaves Pre-Columbian rituals and beliefs with the
Catholic faith. This resulted in a blending of two
cultures, the Aztec’s worship of and honoring the dead and All
Saints' Day brought to Mexico by the Spanish.
November 12th: Mailman’s Day (Día del Cartero)
November 16th: Revolution Day (Día de la
Revolucion Mexicana) Mexican Revolution Day, An official
Mexican holiday honoring the 1910 Mexican Revolution (the
actual date is November 20th for Revolution Day)
November 22nd: Patron saint of musicians (Santa Cecilia)
November 28th -December 6: FIL – Guadalajara’s International
Book Fair
December
December 12th: Patroness of Mexico (Virgen de Guadalupe)
Mexico's patron saint, the Virgin of Guadalupe, is celebrated
throughout Latin America.
December 16th -24th: (Christmas in Mexico
celebrations) (Las Posadas) A
reenactment of Joseph and Mary's search for lodging in
Bethlehem with neighborhood community feasts culminating with
the smashing of pinatas by the children of the
neighborhood.
December 24th: Christmas Eve (Noche Buena)
December 25th: Christmas Day (Navidad)
celebrates the Christmas holiday.
December 28th: Holy Innocents Day (Día de los Santos
Inocentes)
December 31st: New Year’s Eve
in Mexico (Año Viejo)
Official national holidays, known as Días de Asueto.
Government offices, banks, schools, and some businesses are
closed on these days.
The Días de Asueto or official national Mexican holidays
are:
New Year’s Day: January 1
Constitution Day: the first Monday of
February
Benito Juárez Birthday: the third Monday in
March
Labor Day: May 1
Independence Day: September 16
Revolution Day: the third Monday in
November
Christmas Day: December 25
Election Day and the swearing in of a new president are also
official national holidays.
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