NOVEMBER IS A terrific time to be in Puerto Escondido. The rains are done, the weather cools off and the landscape is lush and vibrant. It s also the month that we gear up for the winter tourist season with the Fiestas of November, a line-up of music and folklore, food and fun, sports and cultural events that showcase our town s special attractions.

The Fiestas include the big three events: The Coast Festival of Dance, the International Sailfish Tournament and the International Surfing Tournament. But there's also the excitement of Motorcross, concerts, dances, arts and crafts exhibits and ample showcasing of the unique cultural traditions of the Oaxacan coast.

The Fiestas de Noviembre demonstrate that Puerto is ready to greet its visitors with a warm Bienvenida.
Warren Sharpe, Editor

This Month in Puerto

Food Fair
4 p.m. City Hall Plaza

Calenda
Colorful procession that is the traditional way of kicking off a fiesta, with a brass band, rockets and giant puppets called marmotes. 6 p.m. from Secondary School #86 along Av. Oaxaca to City Hall.

Cultural Event
7 p.m. City Hall Plaza
All today's events are presented by Colegio Calmecac

Thur 10 - Fri 11
Turtle Release & Community Fair
Baby sea turtles, raised in a community hatchery will be released into the ocean. Local residents of this community, some 15 minutes east of Puerto, will offer food and refreshments to raise funds for their conservation efforts.
6 p.m. El Tomatal

Thursday 10
Nipón-Kempo
Martial Arts demonstration
7 p.m. City Hall Plaza

Friday 11
Bicycle Race
Mountain bike race over 60 km.
10 a.m. Start and finish at Parque El Idilio (1st St. North)

Wu-shu Martial Arts & Amateur Boxing
8 p.m. City Hall Plaza

Sat 12 - Sun 13
Motorcross
Saturday is for practice sessions. Then, Sunday, competition begins in earnest with races for children and juniors, beginners and veterans and the Premier Motorcross Championship, featuring the best riders from south and central Mexico, as well as Central America and the U.S.
10 a.m. Entrance to Puerto Angelito Beach

Saturday 12
Vela-Guetza
The word combines two of the best-known cultural traditions of the state: the Guelaguetza, which is a coming together of different ethnic groups to share their individual music and dances, as well as to bestow gifts from the harvests or locally made products.The Vela is the fiesta of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec and this is region which will be explored during this night of fun, music, dancing and great food.

Attendees at a Vela always bring something; the women, favorite dishes to share; the men, cases of beer. (For your convenience, beer will be available at agency prices, to avoid the hassle of bottle deposit.) The event is free of charge. Don't miss this opportunity to enjoy the spectacular costumes, the warmth and joy, and the enduring cultural expression of the people of the Isthmus. (See also Dec. 1 - 3)
6 p.m. Hotel Arcoiris, Zicatela Beach

Miss Puerto Escondido Contest
to select the Queen of the November Fiestas, who will reign over the month's festivities along with Mrs. Emerald Coast and Miss Chiquitita. Entertainment by artists from Azteca TV's reality show The Academy
9 p.m. City Hall Plaza

Dance
to initiate the November Fiesta events that will take place on this side of town.
8 p.m. Zicatela Beach

Sunday 13
Folkloric Dance
featuring the cultural group from Ocotlán de Morelos
7 pm. City Hall Plaza

Tue 15 - Wed 16
Sand Castle Contest
10 a.m. VillaSol Beach Club, Playa Bacocho

Wednesday 16
Music from the Isthmus
A concert of traditional and modern folk music.
8 p.m. City Hall Plaza

Thursday 17
Wrestling
7 p.m. Zicatela Beach

Fri 18 - Sun 20
PXM International Pro Surf Tournament
The grand Fall classic, the November International Surf Tournament, is one of the longest running contests in Mexico. See more on the tournament.
7 a.m. Zicatela Beach

Friday 18
Parachuting
11 a.m. Zicatela Beach

Wet T-Shirt Contest
9 p.m. Zicatela Beach

Saturday 19
Triathlon
8 a.m. Playa Principal

Auto Sound Contest
A face-off by giant boom boxes on wheels. Doesn't that sound like fun?
10 a.m. Benito Juárez Sports Center

Beach Rodeo
7 p.m. Zicatela Beach

Sat 19 - Sun 20
Beach Soccer Tournament
10 a.m. Zicatela Beach

12th Annual Coast Festival of Dance
The Coast Festival of Dance is a showcase for the vigorous and enduring traditions of this area's cultural patchwork of Indigenous, European and African peoples. See more
7 p.m. City Hall Plaza

Sunday 20
Anniversary of the Mexican Revolution
November 20 marks the beginning of the Mexican Revolution and the end of the Porfiriato, the long autocratic rule of Porfirio Díaz, the Oaxacan native son and loyal lieutenant to Benito Juárez who assumed the presidency in 1876 and just didn't know when to give it up. Opposition leader Francisco Madero called for an uprising on November 20, 1910 to oust Díaz, who stole that year's election to take a seventh consecutive term as president.

Many heeded the call, Díaz was forced into exile and Madero become president. But the well-meaning, idealistic reformer was doomed to failure. His government was challenged by revolutionaries such as Emiliano Zapata who were impatient for real land reform and undermined by wealthy landowners and army officers loyal to the old regime.

U.S. Ambassador Lane Wilson played an ignominious role in these intrigues and plotted the coup that resulted in the murder of Madero and his vice-president Pino Suárez and the seizing of power by the odious Gen. Victoriano Huerta.

Opposition soon developed against the usurper. Venustiano Carranza, governor of the state of Coahuila, immediately rejected the legitimacy of the Huerta regime and took up the mantle of the Constitutionalist resistance. Years of chaos and bloody warfare ensued until the success of the Constitutionalists brought a measure of political stability to the country in 1917.

A Parade to mark the 95th anniversary of the Mexican Revolution will leave the Benito Juárez Sports Stadium at 8 a.m, and make its way to the City Hall Plaza.

Monday 21
Coast Arts & Crafts Fair
12 noon City Hall Plaza

Cultural Presentation
8 p.m. City Hall Plaza

Tue 22, Wed 23
Festival of Christ the King
Annual Fair in Puerto's Sector Reforma, section C.

Tuesday 22
Cultural Presentation
8 p.m. City Hall Plaza

Latin Lover burlesque on the beach?
10 p.m. Zicatela Beach

Wednesday 23
Cultural Presentation
8 p.m. City Hall Plaza

Thur 24 - Sun 27
Beach Volley Ball Tournament
10 a.m. Zicatela Beach

22nd International Sailfish Tournament
This competition just gets bigger and better every year with handsome prizes to match. More

Thursday 24
7 p.m. Welcoming Reception & Pre-Tournament Meeting Junto al Mar Restaurant on the Adoquin

Sunday 27
4 p.m. Awards Ceremony

Thursday 24
Happy Thanksgiving!
Cultural Presentation
8 p.m. City Hall Plaza

Friday 25
Coast Dance Festival
A special concert and performances to close out the 12th annual Festival.
8 p.m. City Hall Plaza

Saturday 26
Children's Art Contest
The theme is Protecting the Sea Turtles and is sponsored by the Mexican Turtle Center
9 a.m. Hotel Villasol.

Grand Rodeo & Dance
All-star bull-riding rodeo event with famous rodeo stars from the state of Puebla, followed by music from national big band norteña stars Banda Limon and Recuerdi 89. Entrance fee is $130 in advance and $159 at the door, Children: $50
7 p.m. La Costeñita Rodeo Arena

Sunday 27
Gastronomy Fair & Waiters' Race
Local restaurateurs offer their specialities and their staff compete on an obstacle course in a contest of speed and dexterity.
3 p.m. City Hall Plaza

Gala Closing Dance
8 p.m. City Hall Plaza

Thursday, Dec 1 - Saturday, Dec 3
Vela Istmeña
The Isthmus of Tehuantepec is one of the most fascinating of the Seven Regions of the state of Oaxaca. It has distinctive geography and a vibrant Zapotec cultural tradition. It is not surprising, then, that when Istmeños leave their region, they carry a bit of the Isthmus with them.

Istmeño residents of Puerto Escondido keep their traditions alive with this traditional fiesta (Vela) every December. Dec. 1 and Dec. 2 features lively parades through the streets of town. But, the main event is on Sat. Dec. 3 at the City Hall Plaza, where the Fiesta Queen, Lucero de Luz de León, will be crowned and regional specialties are served, then it's dancing to the wee hours.

This is highly recommended, if only to marvel at the gorgeous costumes of these proud women from the Isthmus.

Thursday 1 Calenda the traditional parade to initiate a fiesta, with a brass band, the huge calenda puppets, rockets and colorful lanterns.

Friday 2 Convite this parade includes colorful floats, from which the participants toss sweets and fruit to the onlookers.

Saturday 3 Gala Dance, crowning of the fiesta queen & ceremony to present next year's fiesta mayordomos, or patrons of the festival.

Tue 6 - Thu 8
Fiesta of the Virgin of Juquila
Dec. 8 is the feast day for the Virgin of Juquila, whose sanctuaries nestle in the southern Sierra Madre Mountains in the town of Santa Catarina Juquila. It's about a three-hour drive from Puerto Escondido, a 30 Km detour off the highway to Oaxaca via Sola de Vega.

Juquila is Oaxaca's Lourdes, a place that attracts believers from all over Mexico who make their pilgrimage to repay a blessing, to seek a cure for illness or to renew their faith.

At the beginning of this month thousands of faithful make their pilgrimage to this shrine on foot, bicycle, bus, truck, car and motorbike.

The town itself thrives on these visitors and is crammed with hotels and restaurants and store after store selling reliquary, statues and images of the doll-like icon on pendants, bottle openers, key chains and other souvenirs. The extreme commercialism of the Juquila phenomena is countered by the very obvious intensity of the faith, passion and joy manifested by the devotees who join the never-ending services in the town church and visit the nearby sanctuary of El Pedimento.

A crazy-quilt collage of cultural artifacts are deposited on the shrine here every day: bank notes, crutches, tiny representations of hearts, limbs, houses, cars, and other symbols representing hopes or thanks for health and prosperity.

The veneration of Our Lady of Juquila dates back to the early days of Christian evangelization in the 17th Century. The small statue of the Virgin is thought to be one of the first images carried through the area by Dominican missionaries, but legend has it that it just miraculously appeared one day in Amialtepec. A wood and palm shrine was built for her there, but burned down. The image of the Virgin was miraculously spared and moved to Juquila while the chapel was being rebuilt.

Among the communities that will host fiestas to honor Juquila this week are Puerto's Colonia Aeropuerto and Hidalgo Tutupec. (Fireworks and dancing on Wednesday 7th).

Read This Month's Feature Article:
12th Coast Festival of Dance
17 Sailfish Tourney
PXM Pro Surfing