The Fiestas de San Andrés is a traditional nine-day novenario that takes place at the end of each November in Ajijic.

From November 21 to 30, the fiestas celebrate the town’s patron saint, Saint Andrew, with processions, fireworks castles, music, amusement rides and other festivities every night in the central plaza.

Towns in Mexico have a patron, a saint, and patroness, one of the apparitions of the Virgin Mary. (Ajijic’s patrona is the Virgin of the Rosary.)

Each night of the novenario, officially November 22 to 30, is sponsored by a different family or group such as the albañiles (bricklayers/masons), jardineros (gardeners) or agricultores (farmers). On some nights, the plaza is packed shoulder to shoulder with thousands of people, depending on which group is sponsoring.

NOVEMBER 21 PROCESSION

To kick off the Fiestas de San Andrés, a procession starts between 5:00 to 5:30 p.m. on November 21 — the day before the official novenario, which ends on November 30 to coincide with Saint Andrew’s feast day on the liturgical calendar. Sometimes the fiestas extend themselves for a couple of days before or after the novenario.

The November 21 procession features lots of carros alegóricios — moving floats with biblical scenes portrayed by still actors. Interspersed between the floats are bandas and Aztec dancers.

NOON AND NIGHTLY PROCESSIONS

From November 22-30, there is a procession at 11:30 a.m. and 6:30 p.m. that starts at Seís Esquinas and ends at church San Andrés in time for mass a half-hour later. The day’s sponsors and other parishioners walk to the church in a group that’s led with a religious image and followed with a couple people who light cuetes, the rockets that go up a hundred feet and explode.

The 11:30 a.m. procession which usually takes place is small; the one in the evening has more people, who sometimes carry candles to the church. It starts at Ocampo and ends at Church San Andrés.

FIREWORKS CASTLES

Each night features a castillo — a fireworks castle two to four stories tall loaded with moving wooden parts, wheels, and shapes, which get propelled into motion when the attached fireworks are ignited.

The castles are lit between at 10:00 in the atrium of Ajijic’s big church, Church San Andrés, located near the plaza.

Once the main parts of the castillo have been ignited, the top part spins around quickly before being launched a couple hundred feet into the air.