Guadalupano Festival celebrated at Dallas’ Latino Cultural Center

by Marisa Treviño of Latina Lista

If you were driving through downtown last night near midnight and noticed a mass of people in front of the Cathedral of Our Lady of Guadalupe on Ross Ave., you probably wondered what was going on.

Especially if you caught sight of some people walking on their knees or some men decked out in colorful feathered headpieces hopping to the tempo of some simple instruments.

Well, unless you’re a new transplant to the area, last night’s midnight ceremony should have looked familiar.

The people gathered outside the downtown Cathedral were waiting in line to be the first to sing Las Mañanitas (an early morning birthday song) to Our Lady of Guadalupe on her Feast Day.

Today is the Feast Day of the most revered saint in all of the Americas. To make a long story short, the devotion some have to Our Lady of Guadalupe is the miracle of her leaving her image on the tunic of a poor Aztec Indian. That same tunic now hangs in the Basilica de Guadalupe in Mexico City.

As we mentioned in a previous posting about the patron saint of Mexico, Our Lady of Guadalupe has evolved into a popular icon.

But for many, she still simply represents the Mother of Mexico. As with anyone who wants to honor their mother, fiestas are plentiful today in her honor.

At the Latino Cultural Center, a free Guadalupano Festival starts at 6 p.m. A collection of images of Our Lady of Guadalupe, on loan from the Institute of Mexico in San Antonio, and created by artist Felipe Cortez Reyes provides the backdrop to the fiesta’s performers from the Ollimpaxqui Ballet Company.

Translated from the Aztec language Nahuatl, Ollimpaxqui means “Joyful Movement.” The company’s performance in honor of Our Lady of Guadalupe means it will be a celebration of color, tradition, dance and music in showcasing the huge influence this legendary figure has had from Mexico to Texas and throughout North and South America.