It's always fiesta time somewhere in Latin America. Every day is a saint's day and each town has its special patron who must be honored once a year. In some countries hardly a week passes without some celebration going on somewhere nearby.
Most North Americans think all fiestas are carefree affairs filled with loud music, gay dancing, fireworks, church bells ringing, and laughter of happy people. Fiestas can also be serious and some Indian fiestas are sad occasions.
Fiestas can be divided into three groups: religious, civic and tribal. This book deals mainly with religious fiestas and with some of the annual tribal fiestas. Religious fiestas have a dual purpose—devotion and diversion. Fireworks, dancing, markets, and—in some communities—a corrida de toros are as much a part of the celebration as masses and processions.
Jean Milne's book takes you on a journey from the Mexican border to Tierra del Fuego but every time you arrive somewhere—a large city or a small hamlet—a fiesta will be ready to start or under way. To make sure that you get to the right places at the right time, FIESTA TIME has a country by country calendar of fiestas.
With the aid of this book you can join the pilgrimage to Chiantla, Guatemala, on February 2. Before Lent, you can attend the Carnival in Rio or Recife or Haiti. On August 2, you can pay homage to Our Lady of Angels, not in Los Angeles, but in Costa Rica. In November, you can celebrate St. Catherine's Day with the Otomi Indians of Pahuatlan, Mexico. Or if you prefer, you can dance your way through Latin America—the cumbia in Colombia, the jarana in Yucatan, huapangos in Vera Cruz, the tamborito
FIESTA TIME is a useful guide to the traveler in Latin America. It is valuable to students of the Spanish language as a description of the customs and culture of the nations south of our border.