Paper Mache Bulls in Patzcuaro

Paper Mache Bulls in Patzcuaro are part and parcel of the most popular Michoacán festivities – very much a part of the Carnival season.  This folk festival begins three days before Ash Wednesday.

Beginning on Sunday, our guests at Hotel Mansion Iturbe could wind bands that cheered our magical village, through its different neighborhoods, its streets and squares. In these three days, we saw activities in all suburbs of Patzcuaro where people upheld this tradition that is part of the celebrations leading up to Lent.

This Michoacán tradition dates from Don Vasco de Quiroga, when the Spanish evangelists used pretend bulls to capture the attention of the indigenous, who had fled to mountains to escape abuse.  It worked.  The indigenous interpreted the gesture of the pretend bull as a means to celebrate their fiesta of fertility, which eventually would be transformed into what is known as the European Carnival.
 

Paper Mache Bulls in Pátzcuaro, Michoacán

Today, these paper mache bulls are made with reeds to form the figure, then covered with paper mache or cardboard, and detailed with crepe paper.

The streets of Patzcuaro are full of the music, dance, and color that identifies this season.  Part of the celebration is an exhibition of youthful drawings at the Mayor’s office, as well as colorful, joyful parades, with participants of future generations joyfully using the pretend-bull props from times gone by.

Carnival in Pátzcuaro, Michoacán

Come and enjoy one of our most extraordinary seasons– one full of festivities and carnaval in our Magic Town!

 

*Texto y video property of Hotel Mansión Iturbe.

Fotography collaboration by Miguel Angel Mandujano.

 

We invite you to visit our blog, you will find more post with information that can be helpful for your next trip visit to Pátzcuaro.

Here are some post that we suggest you:

Jaracuaro – Birthplace of the Dance of the Little Old Men

Palm Sunday in Patzcuaro, the beginning of Holy Week

Mexican Folk Art on the Banks of Lake Pátzcuaro

 

Hotel Mansión Iturbe

Portal Morelos 59

Plaza Vasco de Quiroga

6100 Pátzcuaro, Michoacán

México.

 Tel: +52 (434) 342 0368

Fax: +52 (434) 342 3628

Toll Free fax number from USA & Canada: 1-866 678 6102

More information about our Hotel in Patzcuaro

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CODIGOS GDS
Amadeus:	ON MLMMAN
Sabre:	ON 16297