Celebrating the Season: Children’s Spring Parade

by Tara A. Spears

Don’t miss out on seeing the primary age children of Jaltemba Bay all dressed up! On Tuesday, 21 March at 5:00 the main avenida in La Penita will host local kindergarten students in colorful floats and adorable animal costumes. You can enjoy the parade then walk to the malecon to appreciate the sunset.

In many places in Mexico there are spring festivals, festivales de primavera, that take place to celebrate the beginning of spring. Children’s parades are especially popular – the children in the parade typically dress up as flowers and animals. It’s so interesting to see the families supporting their kids: lot’s of time, effort, and money goes into the costumes. While locally the celebration is child centered, many other areas honor this date because of the equinox.

The spring equinox is celebrated in many cultures as a time of fertility, regeneration and rebirth. In addition to noting the change of seasons, Easter is calculated according to the date of the Spring Equinox. On the equinox, the sun is positioned directly over the equator. In fact, the origin of the word “equinox” means “equal night” referring to the fact that on this day, the hours of daylight and and night are the same.

Another amazing celebration happens in Yucatan, Mexico. The Mayan archaeological site of Chichen Itza is the most popular spot in Mexico to celebrate the spring equinox. The site’s most famous building, The Kulkulkan temple, is the site of a dramatic display of Mayan astronomical knowledge. Every year on the autumn and spring equinoxes the light of the sun makes a play of light and shadow which makes it look like a serpent is slithering along the steps of the pyramid. The effect begins in the late afternoon, around 4 pm, and lasts for an hour or so. The serpent appears for a few days – from around March 19th to the 23rd, but on the actual date of the equinox the effect is most obvious. Thousands of believers in astral power gather at this site each year.

According to Sacred Sites: “The ninety-foot tall pyramid was built during the 11th to 13th centuries directly upon the foundations of previous temples. The architecture of the pyramid encodes precise information regarding the Mayan calendar and is directionally oriented to mark the solstices and equinoxes. Each face of the four-sided structure has a stairway with ninety-one steps, which together with the shared step of the platform at the top, add up to 365, the number of days in a year.” It was after touring Chichen Itza that I decided to move to Mexico permanently- the site is that awe inspiring!

Don’t miss out on the delight custom of a Mexican primavera parade.