For most people living on the American continent, October 12 is Dia de la Raza (or Columbus Day), a solemn holiday marking that culture-shattering autumn day when Cristobal Colon first set foot in the New World.
In Guadalajara, the memory of the Italian navigator is dismissed without sympathy, as all eyes turn to a venerated 400-year-old religious statue, whose mere presence on the streets next Wednesday will draw more than one million spectators.
Just after daybreak on Thursday, the tiny statue of the Virgin of Zapopan will be wheeled out of the Guadalajara Cathedral, placed carefully on an elaborate float and driven very slowly back to her ancestral home in the Zapopan Basilica. Escorting the virgin homeward in one of Mexico’s most extraordinary religious processions will be thousands of high-octane ethnic dancers, decked in colorful indigenous costumes. They will have practiced their routines for months. Indeed, the pleasure they get from their activity must be incalculable: How many artists can actually boast of having performed in front of an audience of one million?
Many devout Catholics stay up all night for a good view of the procession, and will weep, pray and ask the virgin for favors as she passes by.
For some, the thought of dragging themselves out of bed at such an unearthly hour is far too intimidating, but for those who do make the effort, the rewards are great.
The procession’s traditional route along Avenida Alcalde has again been changed this year due to the ongoing work on the city’s third subway line. The new, slightly longer, route runs from the cathedral via Hidalgo, Liceo and Juarez-Vallarta to Avenida Americas for the long stretch up to the Zapopan Basilica. Huge crowds will swamp the Andador 20 de Noviembre and the
Plaza de las Americas facing the Basilica as the diminutive Virgen deck out in a splashy bejeweled coat makes her final push to her ancestral home. Many of the dancers will continue their exertions in the square for several more hours.
The procession is expected to last about two and a half hours. The revered statue usually makes her exit from the cathedral around 8 a.m.