Dia de Los Santos

One of the most important holidays on the Guatemalan Calendar is All Saints Day, or Dia de Los Santos. Families from all over the country return to the places where they grew up, where beloved family members have been buried to mourn and remember and honor their dead.

This year, I made my own pilgrimage to the town of Todos Santos for their yearly fair. This town is the heart of the modern day Mam speaking world and nearly all its inhabitants still wear the traditional dress of their ancestors. For the week leading up to All Saints Day the normally sleepy streets are abuzz with activity- vendors and tourists and returning family members tripling the normal occupancy of the town.

The central activity of the whole event though, are the horse races which are run by twenty-five or so local men who, by the start of the race, have been drinking for well over 24 hours. The men mount their horses and proceed to run back and forth on a half-mile track for most of the day, the goal being to remain on top of your horse. Though it may sound comedic, the results are often tragic; The tradition is that if you die in the horse race, your family will be blessed by a good harvest. Thankfully, no one was badly injured in this year’s races.