The Salon De Fiesta

 
Fiestas, large and small, are an integral part of life in Mexico. However, they are rarely small, so hence the need for the ubiquitous “ Salon de Fiesta “.  Although I still have a lot of exploring to do in Mexico I have been to more than half the States in the country and one thing I have noticed that they all have in common is the salon de fiesta.

The salon de fiesta is simply a large empty, warehouse-like space, and you will see them everywhere from the smallest pueblo to the largest city. The larger the city, the more salons. In Canada, and probably the US as well, we don’t usually rent a hall for a party other than perhaps for weddings or a large graduation party or something of that ilk. A lot of people go through their whole lives and never use a facility like this.

The Venue

Not so in Mexico. Although parties here are very frequent, and often held for no greater reason than that the sun is out, there are specific times when a huge function is required to celebrate an occasion. When a girl turns three, and again when she turns fifteen, baptisms, and of course weddings, are some of those occasions.

Our first experience with one of these giant congregations was the baptism of the young son of two of our Mexican friends. There were about one hundred and fifty people there, mas o menos, ( more or less) and they were nearly all family. The father of the boy being baptized has 11 siblings and each of those has children as well. The average family here is so much larger than north of the border that a hall is usually required to have a family get-together.

The Guest of Honor

The main problem with these events is that they are very expensive and usually the party-givers don’t have any money to spare. The whole family, and sometimes the whole town, chips in to help with the funding. Because of this I have mixed feelings about these mandatory celebrations. You could feed a small town for a week on what it costs to throw one of these shindigs, and they are absolutely expected to do this for each of the milestones I mentioned earlier.

The party-giver must provide the food, drinks, decorations and music for these affairs. In the case of this baptism there were carnitas, a whole pig, spiced and  cooked for many hours in it’s own fat. Where I can see how this may not sound appetizing, it is absolutely delicious. This was accompanied by beans, salad and tortillas. There were plenty of soft drinks and the beer and tequila seemed bottomless. The music was recorded and the speakers very nearly reached the ceiling. I could feel my bones vibrating with the base notes of the music.

Carnitas

Of course there was much singing, dancing, shouting and merry-making and the joy of the whole family, or community, celebrating together is infectious. I particularly liked the dance where everyone got in a circle and did the “ Bull Fight Dance “. A man uses a chair as the horns of the bull and “ attacks” a woman using a rebozo, a large shawl, as the bullfighter’s cape. These props are handed off regularly as new fighters enter and leave the dance floor.

Too Cute!

The Proud Parents

The Matriarch

The Candy Toss

In lieu of a piñata, I guess there were just too many kids, someone stood on a chair and threw candy and small coins into the middle of a gaggle of screaming kids.

We lasted about four hours and even at that my ears were ringing for four days. Apparently the party went until the wee small hours of the morning. The Mexicans DO know how to throw a party!