Residents of Puebla town dance through streets for bountiful harvest

Puebla, Mexico, Mar 28 (EFE).- Residents of San Nicolás de los Ranchos in the Mexican state of Puebla took to the streets Tuesday to dance and ask Mother Nature for fruitful conditions for the planting and harvesting of corn and beans.

Throughout March, men dressed as Xinacates, with their entire bodies covered in black oil, or sometimes painted in metallic colors, dance through the streets of the town at the foot of the Popocatépetl volcano.

However, the 28th is the big day due to the proximity of the planting that begins on Apr. 1 aiming for a good November harvest.

As part of the event, some wear masks of wrestlers or depicting clowns, deer, crows or characters from horror movies, and add pitchforks, chains, whips and hats to the outfit to scare away demons.

“This is a tradition that identifies the town and that we inhabitants enjoy. I have seen it since I was a child,” Mercedes Hernández, a woman in her 70s, told EFE.

“It is a pride to experience this tradition year after year and see that young people have not let it be lost, since they have been involved in asking that their parents and grandparents’ source of earning, the sowing, survives,”she added.

There is no age limit or condition to participate – children, youth, adults, people with disabilities and the elderly proudly show the world their tradition.

They ask Mother Nature for a good harvest, since their municipality’s income is derived mainly from the production of beans and corn, but they also ask that joy and abundance come to their people.

According to the participants, this custom has been carried out for 200 years, but back then they were painted with lard and ash. EFE

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