Our beloved Merida, also known as the “White City”, and capital of Yucatan state, celebrates today its 474th anniversary with the “Merida Fest”, an event which will last until January 24th.
The celebrations began last night, Tuesday Jan. 5, with the performance of YahalKab group, which gave a concert as a prelude to the anniversary in trendy Saint Lucia square.
And right after the concert, Mayor Mauricio Vilal Dosal led the traditional callejoneada in which 130 singers performed their songs in honor of the capital.
The four groups of singers who are in the organization, “Pastor Cervera”, “Guty Cardenas”, “Pepe Dominguez” and “Armando Manzanero” departed from Santa Lucia, and marched along Calle 60 towards the Plaza Grande to honor our beautiful city.
474 Anniversary of Merida (Photo: SIPSE)
The “Merida Fest” will hold over 150 activities, with more than a thousand artists from Mexico, Russia, Spain, Jamaica, Syria, Lebanon, China and Portugal, in order to commemorate one more year of the building of Merida on the site where the ancient Maya city of T’ho used to stand.
Few people are aware of the fact that Merida is a city of migrants, where communities such as Lebanese, Spanish, Cuban, Korean, Chinese (and more recently, American and Canadian Expats) have planted roots.
Merida was founded on January 6, 1542 by Don Francisco Montejo “El Mozo” and was built in the northern part of the Yucatan Peninsula on the ruins of an ancient Mayan settlement known in the region as Ichca’anziho, meaning “Five hills ” (funny name, considering there are no hills in the state of Yucatan).
The festival features popular cuisine, classic cinema, regional theater, aerial and acrobatic dance, scenic poems, book presentations, trova, fusion of rhythms and many other artistic activities that seek to integrate citizens through culture and the arts.
The Yucatan Times will publish a daily “Merida Fest Tip of the Day“, to keep you updated on the most outstanding events during this 3 week celebration.
For Merida Fest full program, you can go to the “Merida Fest” website: www.merida.gob.mx/festival/
Streets in and around Merida’s Centro, including the Plaza Grande and Santa Lucia Park, will be closed temporarily today to facilitate the Merida Fest activities. Among the affected streets are Calle 60 from Calle 63 to 57, Calle 55 between Calle 60 and 62 and Calle 62 between Calle 57 and 59.
Information about these and other street closures is available through Municipal Police Twitter account, @PoliciaMeridaMx.
TYT Newsroom
