San Juan de la Vega

Last updated

San Juan de la Vega is a town in the state of Guanajuato, Mexico.

The town has been inhabited since at least the 16th Century. It has grown considerably in the past few years, and currently has two Catholic churches. During the weekends, there is an open market in the town square call "El Jardin" where local people sell items such as plants, clothing, shoes, fresh fruit and vegetables. It is a known producer of carrots, jícama and cereals. This town is about 15–20 minutes from Celaya. They hold an annual celebration celebrating their patron saint San Juan Bautista which the town is named after. They take the saint to walk around the whole town and each year a house is in charge of the saint.

Festival of the Exploding Hammers

San Juan de la Vega is most noted for its unique exploding sledgehammer festival as a tribute to "San Juanito", which takes place every February. Locals affix homemade explosives to heads of hammers. [1] The explosives were made with matches, sulfur and fireworks. attaching a mix of sulphur and chlorate to the ends of sledge hammers which they then smash against rail beams. Today, this is mainly done in a field outside the town. [2]

The celebration stems from the 17th century when the town’s namesake, considered “Mexico’s Robin Hood”, battled with the area’s wealthy landowners. The modern day celebration is a reenactment of this skirmish. Despite the concern of several groups and calls to end the tradition, the festival has continued for over 300 years. [1]

In 2020, the festival led to 43 injuries. [3]

References [2]

  1. 1 2 "This Mexican Town Celebrates Its Namesake Saint with Exploding Hammers". Vice. 30 April 2019. Retrieved 19 March 2020.
  2. 1 2 Perlow, Nathaniel (2022-03-10). "Thursday Flakes: Mexico's Exploding Hammer Festival". Corn Nation. Retrieved 2023-03-31.
  3. Mills, Jen (26 February 2020). "'Exploding hammer' festival leaves 43 injured in Mexico". Metro. Retrieved 19 March 2020.

20°38′N100°46′W / 20.633°N 100.767°W / 20.633; -100.767


Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Day of the Dead</span> Mexican multi-day holiday

The Day of the Dead is a holiday traditionally celebrated on November 1 and 2, though other days, such as October 31 or November 6, may be included depending on the locality. It is widely observed in Mexico, where it largely developed, and is also observed in other places, especially by people of Mexican heritage. The observance falls during the Christian period of Allhallowtide. Some argue that there are Indigenous Mexican or ancient Aztec influences that account for the custom, and it has become a way to remember those forebears of Mexican culture. The Day of the Dead is largely seen as having a festive characteristic. The multi-day holiday involves family and friends gathering to pay respects and to remember friends and family members who have died. These celebrations can take a humorous tone, as celebrants remember funny events and anecdotes about the departed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">La Union</span> Province in Ilocos Region, Philippines

La Union, officially the Province of La Union, is a province in the Philippines located in the Ilocos Region in the island of Luzon. Its capital is the City of San Fernando, which also serves as the regional center of the Ilocos Region.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tláhuac</span> Borough in Mexico City, Mexico

Tláhuac is a borough in the Mexico City, located in the southeastern edge of the entity. Though Tláhuac still contains rural communities within its borders, mostly in the southern and eastern portions, the borough has undergone a massive shift from urbanization, especially in its northwest. Tláhuac has experienced the fastest rate of population growth in Mexico City since the 1960s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Saint John's Eve</span> Evening of June 23, celebration

Saint John's Eve, starting at sunset on 23 June, is the eve of the feast day of Saint John the Baptist. This is one of the very few feast days marking a saint's birth, rather than their death. The Gospel of Luke states that John was born six months before Jesus; therefore, the feast of John the Baptist was fixed on 24 June, six months before Christmas. In the Roman calendar, 24 June was the date of the summer solstice, and Saint John's Eve is closely associated with Midsummer festivities in Europe. Traditions are similar to those of May Day and include bonfires, feasting, processions, church services, and gathering wild plants.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">San Sebastián, Puerto Rico</span> Town and municipality in Puerto Rico

San Sebastián is a town and municipality of Puerto Rico located in the northwestern region of the island, south of Isabela, Quebradillas and Camuy; north of Las Marías; east of Moca and Añasco; and west of Lares. San Sebastián is spread over twenty-four barrios and San Sebastián Pueblo. It is a principal city of the Aguadilla-Isabela-San Sebastián Metropolitan Statistical Area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">San Miguel de Allende</span> City in Guanajuato, Mexico

San Miguel de Allende is the principal city in the municipality of San Miguel de Allende, located in the far eastern part of Guanajuato, Mexico. A part of the Bajío region, the city lies 274 km (170 mi) from Mexico City, 86 km (53 mi) from Querétaro, and 97 km (60 mi) from the state capital of Guanajuato. The city's name derives from two persons: 16th-century friar Juan de San Miguel, and a martyr of Mexican Independence, Ignacio Allende, who was born in a house facing the city's central plaza. San Miguel de Allende was also a critical epicenter during the historic Chichimeca War (1540–1590) when the Chichimeca held back the Spanish Empire during the initial phases of European colonization. Today, an old section of the town is part of a proclaimed World Heritage Site, attracting thousands of tourists and new residents from abroad every year.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mexico, Pampanga</span> Municipality in Pampanga, Philippines

Mexico, officially the Municipality of Mexico, is a 1st class municipality in the province of Pampanga, the Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 173,403 people. It was also formerly known as Nuevo México during the Spanish period.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Santiago Tianguistenco</span> City in State of Mexico, Mexico

Santiago Tianguistenco, often simply called Santiago by locals, is a city located in Mexico State about thirty km south of the state capital of Toluca. It is the municipal seat for the municipality of Tianguistenco. It is located in the southwest part of the Valley of Toluca at the edge of the Ajusco mountain range that separates it from Mexico City. The name Tianguistenco (Tyanguistengko) is from Nahuatl and means “at the edge of the tianguis,” which is a traditional Aztec market. The section of the city where the industrial park is still bears this name. Historically, the area was known as having one of the richest and best-stocked markets in the Toluca Valley. Today, it is still home to a large permanent municipal market as well as a weekly tianguis that covers much of the historic center.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Montilla</span> Municipality in Andalusia, Spain

Montilla is a town and municipality of Spain, located in the autonomous community of Andalusia. As of 2017, the town had a population of 23,209, which makes it the fourth most populated municipality of the Province of Córdoba. It lies 32 miles south of the provincial capital, Córdoba.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Isidore the Laborer</span> 11th and 12th-century Spanish farmer and saint

Isidore the Labourer, also known as Isidore the Farmer, was a Spanish farmworker known for his piety toward the poor and animals. He is the Catholic patron saint of farmers, and of Madrid; El Gobernador, Jalisco; La Ceiba, Honduras; and of Tocoa, Honduras. His feast day is celebrated on 15 May.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sombrerete, Zacatecas</span> City and municipality in Zacatecas, Mexico

Sombrerete is a town and municipality located in the northwest of the Mexican state of Zacatecas, bordering the state of Durango.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ciénaga, Magdalena</span> Municipality in Caribbean, Colombia

Ciénaga is a municipality and city in the Magdalena Department, Colombia, the second largest population center in this department, after the city of Santa Marta. It is situated at 11° 00' North, 74° 15' West, between the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, the Caribbean Sea and the Ciénaga Grande de Santa Marta marsh in northern Colombia. The city is situated in the northern part of Magdalena, 35 km from Santa Marta. According to estimations in 2020, the city had a population of 110,303. The mean annual temperature is 34 °C.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jerécuaro</span> Municipality in Guanajuato, Mexico

Jerécuaro is a Mexican city located in the lowlands of the state of Guanajuato. The municipality has an area of 828.3 square kilometres and is bordered to the north by Apaseo el Alto, to the east by Coroneo and the state of Querétaro, to the south by Tarandacuao, to the southwest with Acámbaro, and to the northwest with Tarimoro. The municipality had 55,311 inhabitants according to the 2005 census. The municipal president of Jerécuaro and its many smaller outlying communities is C.Jaime García Cardona.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cerro de San Pedro</span>

Cerro de San Pedro is a village and seat of the municipality of Cerro de San Pedro, located in the Mexican state of San Luis Potosí in central Mexico. It is located in hills, 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) northeast of the city of San Luis Potosí.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Guadalcázar, San Luis Potosí</span>

Guadalcázar is a Mexican municipality, within the Mexican state of San Luis Potosí, Northeastern Mexico.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mexican wine</span> Wine making in Mexico

Mexican wine and wine making began with the arrival of the Spanish in the 16th century, when they brought vines from Europe to modern day Mexico, the oldest wine-growing region in the Americas. Although there were indigenous grapes before the Spanish conquest, the Spaniards found that Spanish grapevines also did very well in the colony of New Spain (Mexico) and by the 17th century wine exports from Spain to the New World fell. In 1699, Charles II of Spain prohibited wine making in Mexico, with the exception of wine for Church purposes. From then until Mexico’s Independence, wine was produced in Mexico only on a small scale.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tlalmanalco</span> Municipality in State of Mexico, Mexico

Tlalmanalco is a municipality located in the far south-eastern part of the State of Mexico. The municipal seat and second largest town in the municipality is the town of Tlalmanalco de Velázquez The name is from the Nahuatl language, meaning “flat area.” The municipality's seal shows flat land, with a pyramid on it, representing its pre-Hispanic history, surrounded by small mountains, which is how the area was represented in Aztec codices. The municipality is bordered by the municipalities of Chalco, Ixtapaluca, Cocotitlan, Temamatla, Tenango del Aire, Ayapango and Amecameca. It also shares a border with the neighboring state of Puebla. Much of the municipality borders the Iztaccihuatl-Popocatepetl National Park. For this reason, Iztaccihuatl volcano dominates the landscape. The town has been designated as a “Pueblo con Encanto” by the government of the State of Mexico.

Carnival in Mexico is celebrated by about 225 communities in various ways, with the largest and best known modern celebrations occurring in Mazatlán and the city of Veracruz.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Pyrotechnic Festival</span>

The National Pyrotechnic Festival, which takes place in Mexico, is an annual event to promote the country's tradition of production and use of fireworks. It began as celebration in honor of John of God, the patron saint of fireworks makers, in the municipality of Tultepec, State of Mexico, which produces about three quarters of all Mexico’s fireworks. The main event, a parade of toritos—or bull-shaped frames with fireworks attached to them—began in the mid 19th century. The modern national festival began in 1989 and consists of various events, including fireworks competitions. However, the main event remains that of the toritos; about 250 of which were paraded along the streets of Tultepec during the 2013 festival.