TO TOP OFF A GREAT season of surfing, this month brings the crowning event: the eighth edition of the Central Surf Tube-Riding Contest Invitational, which brings a slate of talented international pro longboarders to Zicatela.

The end of October is a special time in Oaxaca, when the preparations for and celebration of the Days of the Dead provide a feast for the senses.

The streets fill with women carrying flowers, the air redolent of their scent, incense and the delicious dishes prepared for the occasion. There's nothing morbid or grotesque about this festival. Far from being solemn or depressing, the Day of the Dead celebrations are highly festive in tone. They celebrate the continuity of life and strengthen the links to the past. Enjoy!

- - Warren Sharpe, editor

This Month in Puerto

Friday 7, 14, 21, 28
Festival of Fandango
Villa Tutútepec At the time of the Spanish conquest, the Oaxacan coastal region had long been under the control of a Mixtec dynasty based in Tutútepec. The town was founded by Mixtec invaders in 357 A.C.

Also known as Villa de Melchior Ocampo Tutútepec, it boasts a new museum that documents its rich history. Among the artifacts you'll find there is the famous Goddess of the Sky stela and a headless jaguar that used to guard the main temple.

Tutútepec is famous for its Fandango de Varitas, a kind of chilena music which traditionally features five or six musicians playing guitar, violin, cajón (a percussion instrument fashioned from a wooden box), charrasca and a cántaro (a kind of bass made from a clay pot). (Read on for more on Chilena music) The Fandango is danced at all important fiestas, but this festival is particularly important because it is associated with and leads into the Days of the Dead.

It takes place every Friday in October leading up to Day of the Dead and is dedicated to Tata Chu, a dark-skinned representation of Father Jesus much revered by the Mixtecs of the coast, and to las Santas Animas, the holy souls of the departed.

It is what is known as a mayordomia, a festival sponsored by a different individual each year. The mayordomo, or fiesta sponsor, is responsible for providing food and beverage for all who show up, a daunting financial commitment, but one that is eased by donations from the community; the local cattlemen might donate a cow or two, some families donate a chicken, other help with the flowers and candles.

The fiesta begins at 8 p.m. and goes and goes on until noon on Saturday.

The road to Villa Tutútepec is just beyond the town of Santa Rosa de Lima at about Km 66 of the Coastal Highway towards Acapulco.

Sat. 8 - Wed 12
Central Surf Tube-Riding Contest Longboard Invitational
World class longboarding returns to Puerto with the 8th edition of this classic contests, which pits the skills of the worlds best prosurfers against the capricious surf of Zicatela Beach.
View more

Wednesday 12
Day of the Race
Forget Columbus Day and the Discovery of America, the Indians know it wasn't missing in the first place. This national holiday is less Eurocentric and acknowledges the racial reality here. The arrival of the Spaniards was disastrous for the indigenous peoples, but it did give birth to the mestizos, a new race that is most representative of Mexico today.

For the record, at dawn on Oct. 12, 1492, after 70 days at sea, the crews of the caravels La Pinta, La Nina and La Santa María were alerted by the cry of ¡Tierra, Tierra, Tierra! by seaman Rodrigo de Triano when he sighted land.

And the rest, as they say, is history. The arrival of Columbus in America was probably the transcendent event of the 15th Century.

A public holiday, government offices and some businesses will be closed.

Saturday 22
Festival of Chilenas
Santiago Jamiltepec Chilena music is the sound and the soul of the coast and of its people. Chilenas are heard at all local fiestas, from baptisms to funerals. Most of the chilenas we hear are performed by a banda, A major change in Oaxaca's musical style came about with the arrival of military bands at the end of the 18th century. Oaxacans lapped up big brass horns, trumpets and drums. Songs and marches were rewritten and traditional instruments incorporated to give Oaxacan banda music its own distinctive flavor. Chilena dances are part of the rich folkloric heritage of the Mixtec, Amuzgos and Chatino Indians of the state. Couples always dance apart, pañuelo, or handkerchief, held high in the right hand.

Chilena songs are built on an eight-syllable structure, preceded or followed by a chorus that alternates with sections that are purely instrumental. The lyrics speak of every day life, referring to love, women, elements of nature such as crops or animals, and anthems in praise of the hometown. Often they are risque with spoken lyrics about the sexual inadequacies of partners, two-timing husbands and other peccadillos. As with many other aspects of the culture in this region, chilenas are a mixture of native Indian, Spanish and African elements. (Spanish galleons carried African slaves along the Pacific coast between Chile and Mexico.) Some experts believe that the predecessor to the chilena was the marinera peruana, a music genre related to the traditional cueca of Peru and Chile.

One theory holds that immigrants from Chile, seeking their luck in the Gold Rush, brought the music with them when shipwrecked in Mexico on their way to California. And then there are some advocates from the town of Sola de Vega who claim that the chilena is a purely indigenous creation and the word comes from the Zapotec chijena, which means the sound made by instruments.

The 22nd annual Chilena Festival is a song contest open to all musicians: trios, bandas or individuals who perform their original compositions in the genre for prize money ranging from $10,000 pesos for first place to $1000 for fifth. For more on this Indian market town, read on.
7 p.m. Salon Social, Santiago Jamiltepec

Saturday 29
Mrs. Emerald Coast
Puerto's Fiestas of November require not just a Fiesta Queen, but a veritable Royal Family. Apart from Miss P. E., there's a contest for cute, precocious little girls. This one is a beauty and charm contest for married women or single mothers aged 25 to 45. Program includes music by Pepe Ramos, the King of the Chilenas.
8 p.m. Salón Los Mangales

Sunday 30
Daylight Savings Time Ends
SET CLOCKS BACK ONE HOUR AT 2 A.M.

Mon 31 - Wed Nov. 2
Days of the Dead
One of the most important festivals of the year, especially here in Oaxaca. See the story for more on this most fascinating and festive of Mexican holidays.

Read This Month's Feature Articles:
Days of the Dead
Out of Town
Longboard Contest