This Month in Puerto

Friday 6
Festival of Fandango
Villa Tutútepec
The first Friday of October is a mayordomía fiesta, dedicated to the Virgin of the Rosary. The mayordomo is the sponsor of the fiesta in which musicians and dancers perform the town's famous Fandango de Varitas music. The festival is repeated on the following Friday. (See Friday 13 for more on Fandango and Villa de Tutútepec.)

Thursday 12
Day of the Race
Here it's not Columbus Day. The Discovery of America is seen as an Encounter of two worlds, previously unknown to each other.

The arrival of the Spaniards was disastrous for the indigenous peoples and their culture, but it did give birth to a new race - - the mestizo - - and a blending of Old World and New World traditions that changed both worlds forever.

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.

Día de la Raza acknowledges the racial reality here; the majority of Mexico's 90 million population are mestizos. October 12 is a public holiday, government offices and some businesses will be closed.

Special cultural programs and occasionally political demonstrations are often encountered .

Friday 13
Banda el Recodo
What's amazing about La Banda el Recodo is not just that it's arguably the most popular musical group in Mexico today, but also that it essentially invented Banda music more than 50 years ago.

La Banda El Recodo was created in 1938 by a young clarinet player named Cruz Lizárraga, who named the band after his home town in Sinaloa. (El Recodo means a bend, or a a turn in a road, it comes from codo, meaning elbow.) His genius was in taking the American big band sound popular at the time and fusing it with traditional rhythms and styles of music from his own culture: the music of the village fiesta, the troubadors, corridas and the sensual sounds of Mazatlan coast - the wind, the waves, the market vendors hawking their wares.

It proved to be a huge success and established that brass wind instrument, oom-pah sound as one of the most popular and enduring genres of Mexican pop music. In the 50s the band toured the U.S. for the first time and won acclaim there and throughout Latin America.

Don Cruz Lizárraga died in 1995, but his sons Alfonso and Joel Lizárraga picked up the baton (or clarine, as it were) and today their recordings are played about every 15 minutes on most radio stations. So that's who coming to town. But wait, you also get . . . The show takes place at the rodeo grounds and is preceded by a Jaripeo, the local rodeo extravaganza of loud music and bull-riding contests.

Program gets started at about 7 p.m., but don't expect the stars to go on until 11 or so. Tickets $200.00 ($50.00 for kids), a little more at door. Plaza de Toros La Costeñita

Festival of Fandango
Villa Tutútepec
At the time of the Spanish conquest, the Oaxacan coast had long been under the control of a dynasty based in Tutútepec, the town founded by Mixtec invaders in 357 A.D.

San Pedro Tutútepec or Villa Tutútepec de Melchior Ocampo 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).

The Fandango is danced at all important fiestas; this one is dedicated to Tata Chu, a dark-skinned representation of Father Jesus much revered by the Mixtecs of the coast. The fiesta begins at 8 p.m. and goes on until 7 a.m. on Saturday. It takes place at the house of the mayordomo, Sr. Crescencio Nicolás in the Barrio de las Rosas.

Villa Tutútepec boasts an interesting museum that documents its rich history. It's a dozen km off the Coast Highway at about km 66 just past Santa Rosa de Lima.

Saturday 21
23rd Festival of Chilenas
Santiago Jamiltepec
Chilena music is the sound and the soul of the coast and of its people. Chilenas provide the soundtrack for all important occasions, from baptisms to funerals.

Much of the music heard in the towns and villages is performed by a banda, the local brass band. A major change in Oaxaca's musical style came about with the arrival of military bands at the end of the 18th century. Oaxacans quickly took to the big brass horns, trumpets and such. Songs and marches were adapted, the new instruments adopted and a distinctive Oaxacan banda emerged.

As with most aspects of the culture in this region, chilenas are a mixture of native Indian, Spanish and African elements. 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 and that Chileans introduced the music when they were shipwrecked in Mexico on their way to the California Gold Rush. Some claim that chilena comes from the Zapotec chijena, which means the sound made by instruments.

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, feet stomping to the rhythm.

Chilena songs are built on an eight-syllable structure, with 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 there are risque with spoken lyrics about the sexual inadequacies of partners, two-timing husbands and other peccadillos. Chilenas are played by soloists, trios, bandas or any combination of musicians. And that's what you'll see at this 23rd Chilena Festival in the charming town of Santiago Jamiltepec.

It's a song contest for original compositions, with prizes ranging from $10,000 pesos for first place to $1000 for fifth.

The Festival begins with an exhibition of artwork by painters from the region and a crafts expo of textile, ceramic and wood crafts at 10 a.m. The music begins at 4 p.m. with performances by folkloric groups from several indigenous communities from the coast and the Isthmus. It all takes place at the newly rebuilt main plaza.
(See more on Jamiltepec.)

Sunday 29
Daylight Savings Time Ends
SET CLOCKS BACK ONE HOUR AT 2 A.M.

Tuesday 31
Festival of Fandango
Villa Tutútepec
This third mayordomia Fandango Fiesta of the month in the ancient Mixtec capital is in honor of las Santas Animas, the holy souls of the departed, a prelude to the community's celebration of the Days of the Dead. (See Fri. 13)
8 p.m. Friday - 7 a.m. Saturday at the house of Sr. Crescencio Nicolás in the Barrio de las Rosas.

Wed Nov 1 - Thur 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.

There will be an event, probably a competition for Day of the Dead altars, as the first offering in Puerto's Fiestas of November.

Be sure to see next month's issue, the Official Guide for Fiestas of November 2006, for complete details on all the Fiesta events and activities.

Friday Nov 3
Miss Chiquitita Contest
Puerto's Fiestas of November require not just a Fiesta Queen, but a veritable Royal Family. Apart from the Miss Puerto Escondido pageant (date unconfirmed at press time for this edition) and Mrs. Emerald Coast (read on) there's this contest for cute, precocious little girls.

Date and location were still unconfirmed as we went to press.

Saturday Nov 4
Mrs. Emerald Coast
This one is a beauty and charm contest for married women or single mothers aged 25 to 45.

Sunday Nov 5
Extreme Motorcross Acrobatics
Mountain Bike Race

Thursday Nov 9
Crafts Expo Feria
The coast's fabulous array of traditional arts and crafts will be on display for sale at the City Hall Plaza through Nov. 12.

Friday Nov 10
Culinary Fair
Sample the region's exquisite gastronomic pleasures.

Sat Nov 11 - Sun 12
Motocross Championship
10 a.m. entrance to Puerto Angelito

SEE MORE ON THE FIESTAS DE NOVIEMBRE.

NOTE: Information in this calendar is as accurate as we could determine, but we recommend you confirm the data with us or with Gina at the Tourist Information Booth on the Adoquin.

Read This Month's Feature Articles:
Out of Town: Santiago Jamiltepec
Day of the Dead
November Fiestas