La celebracion del senor del rayo

Yesterday we went on a class trip — we are doing a few of them which is a great way to see some new things — to the Catedral de Nuestra Señora de la Asunción, which like all good cathedrals is located right along the zocalo. The church was being prepared for a uniquely Oaxacan festival, la celebracion del senor del rayo.  Oct. 23 is believed to be the day the statue of Christ miraculously appeared in the cathedral and that miracle is celebrated annually.

The most remarkable aspect of it is that the entire inside of the cathedral is decorated in flowers, predominantly lilies, and on the 23rd, there is a special mass celebrating the miracle. Apparently the statue of Christ is usually kept behind glass in a side chapel but it is brought into the main sanctuary for this special occasion.

I did not attend the mass but the zocalo and areas around the cathedral were absolutely packed with people (of whom I believe many were local indigenous people who had marched many kilometres to protest their living conditions).  But on the day we visited, even though the decoration was not complete, you still were assaulted with the scent of flowers and a sense of wonder when you entered the cathedral. It was quite spectacular. The whole evening will be capped off with fireworks, which Mexicans love and take every opportunity to set off.

Update: I went to the fireworks and they were the craziest. It was all set up right outside the cathedral with  a large metal structure that obviously had fireworks on it and was going to be set off. Around that was a small roped off section of sidewalk upon which the municipal works team were setting up the fireworks launching cannons or whatever. What there wasn't was really any safety zone beyond a few feet behind the rope. So seeing this I had to wonder exactly how it was all going to play out.

I was with a couple of students from my house so we wandered around a bit, I met some locals who were dressed up in traditional costumes and took a pic, and then came back to the cathedral at 9. There was a band playing traditional tunes on horns and drums, People were throwing sweets and stuff into the crowd and it was a mad scramble to get them. Then a group of men started dancing and a few of them had contraptions that they wore on their heads that lit up and spewed fireworks. I'm sure their dance was telling a story but I dont know what. That went on for about 15 minutes. Then they started shooting the big fireworks into the sky. So we were right under all this and while the view was unusual and spectacular, the whole crowd was also in the debris zone and it rained down on us. Later in the evening, something quite large smacked me in the eye and left me with a bit of a black eye.

The musically accompanied fireworks show consisting of the dancers, the big fireworks, and smaller fireworks on the metal structure went on for about 45 minutes. It ended with the top of the structure lighting up with the words "viva el senor del rayo" and then on the front of the cathedral bright white fireworks cascading down across the whole front of it like a fiery waterfall. It was quite spectacular. And was definitely the wildiest fireworks experience I have ever had.