Celebrating Christmas in the Magical Village of Tepotzotlán

For 53 years , the Magical Village of Tepotzotlán has revived one of the most popular December traditions in Mexico: Pastorelas .

These theatrical representations show the ages old trope of the fight between good and evil while attempting to unveil the mystery of the birth of Jesus. Pastorelas were created by the New-Hispanic writer José Joaquín Fernández de Lizardi , who sought to evangelize indigenous people through theater in the 18th century .

Following the tradition started by Fernández de Lizardi, Tepotzotlán organizes its very own pastorela in an ancient patio that used to be part of the Novitiate-College Inn , built to accommodate those initiated in Jesuit education. Nowadays, the Inn is part of a complex that includes the San Francisco Javier Temple and the National Viceroyalty Museum , which holds one of the largest religious art collections in the world.

The show

The famous pastorelas of Tepotzotlán begin at 7 PM . Upon arrival, attendants are greeted with hot ponche and a mariachi musical number.

Shortly after, the play begins. The stands are perfectly distributed so that everyone is able to appreciate the show in full detail.

After the pastorela, attendants are invited to participate and ask for “posada,” which is a collective performance in which a group of people re-enact the Bible story of Mary and Joseph ’s journey to Bethlehem and their search for a place to stay. There will also be a firework show.

At the end of the night, attendants will enjoy a Mexican dinner that consists of pozole, pambazos, buñuelos, coffee, and champurrado .

The tour will be held from December 14 to 23 . It has a cost of MXN$830 per person , though there are also tourist packages that include transport from Mexico City. For more information, you may visit the tour’s official website here .

Christmas village in Xochimilco

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