Oaxacans know how to put on a festival

Last night marked the beginning of the 4th (?) annual May festival of the Humanities here in Oaxaca. It's a State (and Federal?) sponsored 10 day festival in honor of cultural diversity themed around a region in the state (La Costa), a Mexican state (Tabasco), and another county/ culture (India)-- although I don't know how they are all supposed to fit together. Until next Sunday night there are public concerts outdoors and in the various theaters (I don't know if you have to pay for those), workshops, conferences, art exhibitions and cooking demonstrations. I don't entirely understand the "purpose" of the festival (cultural education?), but the cynic inside me thinks that it's coordination with May Day works to position the state government as the benevolent supporter of communities.... unlike many people's experience of race/ class stratification. As always, stuff here in Oaxaca that may be free are still not necessarily accessible.

But I do enjoy a parade and am never one to pass up outdoor concerts (there's something about the ability to wander in and out) and luckily last night the opening night calenda of participants passed right by my apt and then I was able to catch up with the front a little later (parades here also move incredibly slowly). I think that along with the infectious banda music, what I adore about calendas here are the dancing women-- and more accurately, their skirts, they are everything the little girl inside who loves full twirlible skirts could lust after.



This guy leads off the calenda with a spinning firework display (I was a little to close this time and had to duck away from the sparks)



The India float was actually the last one in the procession and had a jarringly disjunction between the tabla players and the banda group directly in front. When the floats came to an end, people mobbed the float taking pictures and shooting video. Similarly, the small exhibit on Indian popular art in the Museo de Palacio was also mobbed.



Butteflies seem to be the theme of the festival, with its icon a butterfly whose upper and lower wings and torso reflect the textiles of each place.


I think this dance group as from Tabasco (but maybe they were supposed to represent the Central Valleys, or the Coast). It's really interesting, a men's dance where a bull's pelt is placed over a wood frame and then the carrier dances as a bronco.


Dancers from the Coast and their float. What was also interesting is that the art exhibition from the Coast is called Sana Negritud, La Raiz Olvidada-- with all these Afro-Mexican themed lithographs (something that intellectually seems to be the defining trope of this region), but there were no Afro-Mexicans represented in the Coasta participants.

And I shot some video for those who want the more visceral sense of the proceedings, but blogger doesn't seem to want me to post it... I'll try a little later.