Structured celebration at which much traditional behavior is observable. The Spanish
word fiesta means “celebration,” “party,” or “feast.” In traditional Mexican and Mexican
American culture, a fiesta is a Catholic religious celebration, often taking place on a
Saint’s Day or some other holy day. Although each fiesta is unique to its particular time
and place, most fiestas share some or all of a cluster of traditional activities.
Mass is usually celebrated in the morning or early afternoon of a feast day. A
procession often follows Mass. The image of the saint being honored is carried out of the
church, through some of the streets of the community, and back again into church. In
some communities, elaborate temporary decorations are placed along the route where the
procession is to pass. These include homemade lanterns of colored paper, floral arches,
and designs applied to the street surface itself.
Ritual dancers and musicians may accompany the procession, or may perform in the
churchyard at any point during the day. These dances may or may not include elements of
ritual drama. Examples of such dances and ritual dramas include the dances of los Indios,
los Matachines, and los Aztecas, and the dramas of la Conquista and los Moros y
Cristianos. Ritual performers may come from distant towns to dance at an important
fiesta, while smaller fiestas may only attract local dancers and musicians.
Commercial activity also has a place at community fiestas. All sorts of sacred and
secular trinkets may be purchased at temporary stalls that have been set up in the plaza in
front of the church. Horse races and other traditional sports as well as gambling are often
fiesta activities. Feasting, either sponsored by the church organization or made possible
through the sale of foods at stalls, is also an important part of fiesta behavior. This
feasting often includes the consumption of alcoholic beverages. Finally, many fiestas
include a social dance as an important, culminating event.
In many communities, especially those with indigenous roots, the fiestas are organized
and paid for by an elaborate hierarchy of officials who change regularly. Another strategy
for raising the necessary money is to lease space in the plaza or streets to merchants.
In the 1980s, the Fiesta de San Lorenzo (St. Laurence, martyr, August 10) in Clint,
Texas, began with a morning mass. After mass, the statue of the saint was carried on a
large circuit of streets around die church, accompanied by musicians playing and singing
traditional religious songs and by Matachines dancers. Matachines also danced in front of
and beside the church after the procession. Meanwhile, in the plaza in front of the church,
traditional festive foods were sold from stalls operated by local individuals and charitable
organizations. Other stalls offered trinkets and games of skill. A dance took place in the
evening.
Other fiestas will have other characteristics, and may last for several days, attracting
pilgrims from great distances. All share some or all of the cluster of traditional activities
outlined above.
James S.Griffith
References
Toor, Frances. 1947. Mexican Folkways. New York: Crown, pp. 170–260.