The month-long Chila Fair, one of the biggest celebrations on the coast, began last weekend with a variety of activities for everyone, including sports, cultural and religious events.
A beauty pageant was held in the lead-up to the fair on Jan. 28 where the Queen of the Fair and Queen of the Charros were crowned.
Festivities formally took off on Friday with a calenda, a cultural show, and the symbolic lighting of a torch.
On Sunday, physical prowess was put to the test with a series of cycling and athletic competitions.
The schedule of events also includes a Pelota Mixteca tournament, a team sport similar to a net-less tennis game whose roots are in pre-Hispanic cultures. Players wear sturdy, elaborately decorated gloves affixed to a heavy flat striking surface, using them to strike a small solid ball.
Other sporting events include basketball, volleyball, and soccer.
Feria festivities include traditional events like community feasts, calendas, burning of the pyrotechnic castle and fireworks, popular dance, novenas (nine days of public prayers) and jaripeo and bullfighting tournaments.
The traditional Feria, which runs until Feb. 26, has earned regional relevance due to the list of events that comprise it, as well as the number of people who gather in Chila from neighboring towns and villages.
• See the full schedule of events here.
With reports by Estado Actual
