La Semana Santa Easter in Central America
Easter in Guatemala
Antigua, Guatemala, is home to what is probably the biggest Easter festival in Central America. Colourful carpets of flowers and festive processions draw thousands of Guatemalans and tourists from all over the world to the old capital of Guatemala. Maundy Thursday and Good Friday are the most important Easter days here. On Friday night, the inhabitants painstakingly decorate the streets with colourful carpets of flowers, the so-called "alfombras". With the help of stencils, brightly coloured sawdust, flowers and leaves are formed into colourful, mostly ecclesiastical patterns, which can often take 6 to 12 hours. The most important processions take place on Good Friday, when men dressed in purple frocks carry frames with scenes of Jesus, Mary or angels and women carry statues of the Virgin Mary through the streets. The processions pass through the flower carpets so that the beautiful images are destroyed, which is supposed to be a sign of transience.
Easter in Mexico
Easter lasts almost a whole two weeks in Mexico. The "Semana Santa" is followed by "Pascua" from Easter Sunday to the following Saturday. Mexicans celebrate Easter with lots of music and dancing. On Holy Wednesday, there is a midnight mass, "los maitines de las tinieblas", in which 15 candles are lit on the altar at the beginning, but one is extinguished at a time so that only one candle is left burning at the end. This is supposed to represent Jesus standing alone in the dark, abandoned by his disciples. On Maundy Thursday, seven churches are traditionally visited to pray for his sins. The march from church to church often turns into a big family celebration, as there are delicious specialities to buy in front of each church. On Good Friday, the Passion Play begins, in which the stages of Jesus' journey from his suffering to his resurrection are shown in various performances. The most popular Passion Play takes place in Iztapalapa, a neighbourhood in the east of Mexico City. The impressive performance of the crucifixion on the starry hill "Cerro de la Estrella" attracts an audience of millions. The "burning" of Judas takes place on Holy Saturday. In most communities, cardboard figures with firecrackers are hung over the streets. When the dolls explode, a few little things fall down for the children who are already waiting underneath. The fiesta begins on Easter Sunday after the last Passion Play. Under colourful crepe garlands, Mexicans celebrate the resurrection of Jesus with music, dancing and treats on the streets.
Travelling Central America
A trip to Central America is so much more than rainforests, volcanoes and dream beaches. Look forward to colourful colonial cities, warm-hearted people, exotic wildlife, living traditions and real adventures between the Pacific and the Caribbean.