Festive Cities To Celebrate the Holidays in Mexico
Mexico has many cities that celebrate Christmas and New Year’s with traditional festivities of high historical and cultural value. These are some of the most popular destinations tourists can’t miss if they travel to Mexico this holiday season.
Oaxaca City
Oaxaca is one of Mexico’s most popular places to celebrate the Christmas and New Year’s holidays. From the beginning of December, its streets are full of parties in which national and foreign tourists enjoy shows and diverse gastronomy with typical dishes.
Children, young people, and adults gather to ask for “posada,” an ancient tradition that recalls when the Virgin Mary and her husband, St. Joseph, requested lodging for the Baby Jesus to be born. On this occasion, the piñata is broken, and families have fun sharing typical dishes, sweets, fruits, and drinks to toast the birth of Baby Jesus.
A few days before Christmas, Oaxaca celebrates Radishes Night, an exciting traditional contest that begins with the assembly of an exhibition and sale of radishes figures.
San Cristóbal de las Casas, Chiapas
This incredible city, located in the mountains of Chiapas, celebrates Christmas and New Year’s festivities with traditional dances representing the syncretism of the native cultures and the Spanish inheritance.
The city celebrates a special mass commemorating the birth of the Baby Jesus. In addition, the traditional Fiesta Grande de Chiapa is organized in the first week of January, culminating with a great meal shared among all community members.
This festivity combines religious and popular elements that give it a unique character and honors the three patrons of the community. With the traditional Parachico Dance, a collective offering is made to the revered Saints. This holiday begins in the morning and goes until the evening. During the event, participants wear wooden masks, headdresses with monteras (Spanish hats), dresses in sarapes, embroidered shawls, and ribbons of different colors.
San Miguel de Allende
This city, located in Guanajuato, a couple of hours from Mexico City, celebrates Christmas with activities that visitors enjoy starting from the first days of December.
Activities begin with the Christmas Tree lighting, which takes place on the first Friday of December, amid traditional music and typical delicious dishes such as tamales, buñuelos (sweet bread), and ponche (traditional drink).
The Main Garden of this picturesque town is full of parties with free public concerts, carols, songs, and traditional posadas, where visitors are the prominent guests in the city’s different neighborhoods. The parties conclude on December 31 with the last bell of the Parish, San Miguel Arcángel, indicating the New Year’s entrance and a fantastic concert open to all the public.
Puerto Vallarta
This extraordinary destination of the Mexican Pacific celebrates Christmas and New Year’s Eve with a lot of traditional experiences and celebrations that take place on the beaches with live music, shows, and sale of traditional dishes, in addition to an extraordinary spectacle of fireworks that illuminate the beautiful bay of Puerto Vallarta.
Various restaurants in the city offer first-rate seats to enjoy the fireworks marking the end of the year, including evening packages that provide the tourists with specially prepared dinners with traditional foods of the season.
This season is special for families traveling to Puerto Vallarta because the city offers shows for all ages with clowns, games, and creative activities with workshops and crafts for children. In addition, dinners and parties are held throughout the city on the beach, in restaurants, and various resorts. Finally, it is worth noting that Puerto Vallarta’s world-class restaurants offer excellent places to enjoy gourmet food and celebrate Christmas and New Year.