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Posts Tagged ‘Feria Regional de Hongos Silvestres’

Missing July 2019

Posted in Beverages, Celebrations, Creativity, Culture, Travel & Tourism, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on July 27, 2020| 9 Comments »

July 2020, living in the time of Covid-19, is almost in the rear view mirror. Oh, how I have been missing July 2019!

July 9, 2019 – Teotitlán de Valle, Patronal festival in honor of La Preciosa Sangre de Cristo.

July 10, 2019 – Teotitlán del Valle, Grupo de la Danza de la Pluma 2019-2021 dancing in honor of La Preciosa Sangre de Cristo.

July 12, 2019 – Teotitlán del Valle, Convite inviting everyone to the fiesta celebrating La Preciosa Sangre de Cristo.

July 13, 2019 – Teotitlán del Valle, Grupo de la Danza de la Pluma 2019-2021 dancing in honor of La Preciosa Sangre de Cristo.

July 14, 2019 – Tlacolula de Matamoros Sunday market, Kalisa Wells at the stall of doll maker, Armando Sosa.

July 16, 2019 – Santa Catarina Minas at the mezcal palenque of Félix Ángeles Arellanes, Mezcal El Minerito.

July 18, 2019 – Oaxaca de Juárez, Carina Santiago at a cocinera tradicional (traditional cook) demonstration.

July 19, 2019 – Oaxaca de Juárez, Mole Festival at the Jardín Etnobotánico (Ethnobotanic Garden).

July 20, 2019 – Oaxaca de Juárez, Guelaguetza parade of delegations.

July 21, 2019 – San Antonio Cuajimoloyas, Feria Regional de Hongos Silvestres (Regional Wild Mushroom Fair).

July 22, 2019 – Las Peñitas Reyes Etla, Guelaguetza.

July 25, 2019 – Oaxaca de Juárez, procession announcing the Guelaguetza Muy Especial by the Down’s Syndrome folkloric dance troupe.

July 26, 2019 – Oaxaca de Juárez, procession by the Asoc. de Juchitecos radicados en Oaxaca.

July 27, 2019 – Oaxaca de Juárez, young participants in the second Guelaguetza parade of delegations.

July 31, 2019 – Oaxaca de Juárez, making tejate at the Feria del Tejate y el Tamal in the Plaza de la Danza.

A reminder that we need to appreciate and be present to the present; it will never come this way again.

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Mushrooms and more

Posted in Agriculture, Culture, Flora, Food, food festival, Science & Nature, Travel & Tourism, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , on July 23, 2019| 10 Comments »

Sunday, I headed up into the clouds for the 19th Feria Regional de Hongos Silvestres (Regional Wild Mushroom Fair) in San Antonio Cuajimoloyas. Friends had hired a van and driver to take us on the steep winding climb into the Sierra Norte. An hour and a half after we left the city, we arrived at our destination, 10,433 feet above sea level. Cuajimoloyas has an ethereal feel and seems like a world apart from the valley below.
       
Baskets of fresh mushrooms with shiny orange caps and mushrooms resembling coral, trumpets, cauliflower, and flower petals beckoned. And the aroma of grilled mushrooms, mushroom tamales, mushroom empanadas, and chile relleno stuffed with mushrooms stimulated the appetite.
There were dried mushrooms in bulk and in little cellophane baggies for purchase.
Mushrooms aren’t the only produce the region is known for — delicious apples and new potatoes are grown in these chilly mountains.
And, there there were local crafts for sale and a couple of kinds of mezcal to taste (and buy).
I came home with apples, potatoes, a bottle of the lovely A Medios Chiles mezcal made from the wild Jabalí agave, and 30 grams of dried mushrooms. While the mushrooms weren’t of the “magic” variety, the experience certainly was!
“Mushrooms were the roses in the garden of that unseen world, because the real mushroom plant was underground. The parts you could see – what most people called a mushroom – was just a brief apparition. A cloud flower.” ― Margaret Atwood, The Year of the Flood

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Snapshots from Oaxaca

Posted in Celebrations, Culture, Food, food festival, People, Travel & Tourism, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , on July 21, 2019| 5 Comments »

It’s Guelaguetza time in Oaxaca… so many festivals, parades, and food festivals. However, not so much time to blog.

July 18, 2019 – Olga Cabrera (Tierra del Sol) and Carina Santiago (Tierra Antigua) following their mole demonstrations.

July 19, 2019 – Festival del los Moles at the Jardín Etnobotánico.

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July 20, 2019 – Mariachi concert at Hotel Las Golandrinas, in honor of founders, Señor and Señora Velasco.

July 20, 2019 – Gathering, in the rain, of one of the China Oaxaca delegations at the Guelaguetza desfile.

July 21, 2019 – Feria Regional de Hongos Silvestres (wild mushroom festival) in Cuajimoloyas, in the Sierra Norte.

So much fun and so much more to do! Stay tuned…

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Events of Guelaguetza

Posted in Celebrations, Creativity, Culture, Food, Travel & Tourism, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , on July 18, 2016| 6 Comments »

July is the month of the Guelaguetza.  It has its origin in pre-Hispanic corn festivals — a time when maíz seeds were (and continue to be) sown in many of the villages in the valley of Oaxaca and people gathered to exchange seeds and celebrate.  The annual festival was resurrected in 1951 by the city’s leaders to encourage tourism — and it has worked.  Ancillary activities, in the form of fairs, festivals, and cultural presentations have been added over the years to attract and entertain even more domestic and international tourists.

And so, despite the continuing and contentious issues regarding education/labor forms, the show must go on!  Calendas (parades) are already occurring on the city’s streets and banners advertising Guelaguetza events are hanging from street lights on the major calles.  Below is the official Guelaguetza 2016 program of events and a selection of some of the addition activities happening this month.  (Click each poster for a larger and more readable image.)

programa de actividades guelaguetza 2016

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If you are in Oaxaca, there is no reason to be bored.  ¡Disfruta!  Enjoy!

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Guelaguetza activities abound!

Posted in Celebrations, Culture, Exhibitions, Food, Music, Travel & Tourism, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on July 12, 2015| Leave a Comment »

Calendas (parades) are already occurring on the city’s streets and banners advertising Guelaguetza events are hanging from street lights on the major calles.  Below are just a handful (or two) of the activities coming up.  (Click each poster for a larger and more readable image.)

For a more complete list, check out this schedule of events from the Secretaría de Turismo y Desarrollo Económico (Ministry of Tourism and Economic Development):

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Looking back to posts left unposted

Posted in Celebrations, Children, Creativity, Culture, Food, Holidays, Markets, Protests, Transportation, Travel & Tourism, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on January 1, 2015| 8 Comments »

Adiós to 2014.  It was another year filled with the always amazing and often surprising sights and sounds of Oaxaca.

January – The new year began with a Quinceañera at Iglesia Sangre de Cristo on the Macedonio Alcalá.

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February – Most of the month was spent in California and New York, but returned to Oaxaca sun, blue sky, and buildings with character.

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March – Ahhh… the flowers, the boys, and the girls of the “only in Oaxaca” Paseo de los Viernes de Cuaresma.IMG_2401

April – The banners of the Procesión del Silencio (Procession of Silence) on Good Friday during Semana Santa (Holy Week).

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May – Karen and Jasen Willenbrink exhibition at Gorilla Gallery.

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June – Pretty in pink, a protest by tuk-tuks (moto-taxis) on the zócalo.

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July – Up into the Sierra Norte for the Feria Regional de Hongos Silvestres (Wild mushrooms fair) in San Antonio Cuajimoloyas.

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August – Mini Guelaguetza sponsored by the Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social (IMSS) on the Plaza de la Danza.

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September – A rainy morning walk up to the presa (dam), Piedra Azul in Teotitlán del Valle.

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October – Day of the Dead tapetes de arena in progress on the Plaza de la Danza.

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November – Ofrenda in San Pablo Villa de Mitla with the village’s traditional and intricately decorated pan de muerto.

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December – Nochebuenas (poinsettias) for sale at mercado Sánchez Pascuas.

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Muchisimas gracias to all my wonderful 2014 blog readers! I am blown away that people from 125 countries have stopped by View from Casita Colibrí this year.  Your presence, comments, and encouragement have been SO very much appreciated.

¡Feliz año nuevo a tod@s!  I can’t wait to see what 2015 will bring.

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Let the Guelaguetza festivities begin

Posted in Culture, Food, Music, Travel & Tourism, tagged , , , , , , , , , on July 18, 2014| 4 Comments »

I’m back in Oaxaca — and I’m not the only one!  The city’s streets and sidewalks are more congested than usual as tourists, both national and international, have begun pouring in.  Why? you ask.  They have come for the annual Guelaguetza folkloric performances the next two Mondays on Cerro Fortin in Oaxaca city.  And, a few might even venture out to join locals at the more intimate Guelaguetzas in many of the villages that surround the city.

There will be food and drink ferias and festivals…

There will be calendas (parades), expo-ventas (artisan sales), and exhibitions…

There will be concerts, including this one by Lila Downs…

lila downs concierto guelaguetza 2014

And, SO much more!  The above posters illustrate just a fraction of the activities surrounding the Lunes del Cerro (Mondays on the hill).  For a more comprehensive, though not by any means complete, list of events, check out the calendar below.

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Sheesh, it seems like they add more things to do and see every year.  However, I’m looking forward to showing and sharing as much of it as possible with friends.

Click on each poster for a larger (more readable) image.

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The oldest art a mushroom

Posted in Culture, Environment, Food, Science & Nature, Travel & Tourism, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on July 26, 2013| 2 Comments »

“But one day we shall be rich, and the next poor. One day we shall dine in a palace and the next we’ll sit in a forest and toast mushrooms on a hatpin….” — Katherine Mansfield, The Aloe.

Last Sunday, via a narrow winding road, we drove up into the Sierra Norte for the 13th Regional Wild Mushroom Fair (Feria Regional de Hongos Silvestres) in San Antonio Cuajimoloyas.  The village is part of the Pueblos Mancomunados, a union of seven villages formed to protect the forest, preserve local traditions, and promote ecotourism, in order to provide employment. Thirty-seven miles northeast of Oaxaca city, 10,433 feet above sea level, and often in the clouds, Cuajimoloyas has an ethereal feel and seems a world apart from the valley below.

“I am… a mushroom on whom the dew of heaven drops now and then” — John Ford, The Broken Heart (1633).

Entering the plaza in front of the portales of the municipal building, we were surrounded by the 20 species of wild mushrooms endemic to the region.  There were mushrooms with shiny orange caps; mushrooms resembling coral, trumpets, a head of cauliflower, flower petals; baskets of freshly dug mushrooms, baggies of dried mushrooms, a bowl of spores; mushrooms sauteed, grilled on hot coals, stuffed in empanadas and tamales, and made into candy.

“Nature alone is antique, and the oldest art a mushroom.” — Thomas Carlyle, Sartor Resartus.

And there were the people of Cuajimoloyas…  I quickly found the enchanting abuela from last year, again selling Atole Rojo and it hit the spot!  Another abuela was selling fragrant fresh herbs, most I’d never heard of.  I forgot about a sprig she gave me and it was a pleasant surprise when I returned home and emptied my pockets.

I’m already looking forward to next year…

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Of clouds and mushrooms

Posted in Celebrations, Culture, Food, Travel & Tourism, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on July 26, 2012| 4 Comments »

Sunday, we headed up into the clouds of Oaxaca’s Sierra Norte to San Antonio Cuajimoloyas.  At 10,433 feet above sea level and nestled in a forest of pine and oak trees, the setting has an ethereal feel and seems a world apart from the valley below — almost like being in an alpine village in Switzerland.

Wood house with tin roof

Getting up there wasn’t easy, thanks to the bumpy and winding dirt road.  However, reaching our destination, the Feria Regional de Hongos Silvestres (fair of wild mushrooms) was well worth it!

Banner above municipal building, against a cloudy sky, announcing, "Bienvenidos,12va. feria regional de Hongos Silvestres"

Once there, baskets, buckets, and boxes filled with freshly gathered mushrooms greeted us.

Blue plastic bucket of trumpet mushrooms

Close-up of mushrooms

Mushrooms in a box

Orange capped mushrooms in a green container

Not only was there a bounty of raw mushrooms, the aroma of sautéed mushrooms, mushroom tamales, and mushroom empanadas stimulated our appetites and we tried them all, and washed it down with an atole rojo made by this beguiling gal.

Elderly woman mixing atole rojo.

And no, these were not “magic mushrooms” but the experience was, indeed, magical.

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