MEXICO, Aug 3 — Thousands of visitors swarm the Southern Mexican town of Oaxaca for the Guelaguetza, a festival celebrating the multitude of indigenous groups in the area.  

Groups from the various indigenous towns across the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca meet on this hillside on two last Mondays of July every year, to exchange gifts, dance and song.

The festival’s name, Guelaguetza comes from the Zapotec word for offering, and this celebration can be traced back to pre-hispanic times.

“The traditions need to continue for future generations, it is very important that everyone knows our state, our customs and traditions,” Beatriz Mendoza Guzman from Santa Catarina Juquila said.

Aurelio Mendez from Santiago Jamiltepec adds: “The customs, we don’t want to lose them, because those in the future, need to see this, we do this to show those that are yet to come that this goes back a long way.”

Many shudder at how commercial this event has become. The hillside now has an auditorium that can seat thousands and the show now takes place four times to accommodate more visitors.

The celebration attracts around 135,000 visitors to Oaxaca, bringing in more than US$20 million (RM64 million) in 10 days.

The festival’s name, Guelaguetza comes from the Zapotec word for offering, and this celebration can be traced back to pre-hispanic times. — AFP pic

According to Jose Zorrilla de San Martin Diego, Tourism Minister for Oaxaca: “It’s very important because all these resources go to service providers, to hoteliers, restaurateurs, taxi drivers, artisans and painters and all those that serve tourists. In Oaxaca the Guelaguetza is a huge festival but it also helps development and the economy.”

For two weeks indigenous culture is centre stage in Oaxaca. But according to IMF figures 80 per cent of Mexico’s 13 million indigenous people still live in poverty, marginalised from society. — AFP