guatemalan fair
Touring the Guatemalan Town Fair: The Live Music
On the weekends or on the most important date for the county and town fair you are bound to find live music, especially cumbia and/or dancing music. Live music is a such large crowds magnet. Here you can look at the typical music band found at town and county fairs. Now that I think about … Read more
Touring the Guatemalan Town Fair: The Crowds
If you don’t like crowds, stay away from town and county fairs because these get really packed. Even a tiny town fair such as the one in San Miguel Escobar village can get jam-packed, especially on the weekends and even more so on a Saturday. I don’t like crowds, but here you see me in … Read more
Touring the Guatemalan Town Fair: The Orange Transaction
Among all the junk food, chucherías pues, that you find at the town fairs, you can also encounter a fresh fruit booth such as the one shown above selling oranges and jocotes. Of course you know what jocotes are, right? If not, follow the white rabbit through the rabbit hole of the AntiguaDailyPhoto archives. Enjoy!
Touring the Guatemalan Town Fair: Elotes Locos?
After the parenthesis to promote the first Rally de Fotos in Antigua Guatemala we continue with our series Touring the Guatemalan Town Fair. Elotes locos are chucherías (snacks) that are always present in the typical Guatemalan county or town fair. To make elotes locos at home you basically add butter, mayonnaise, ketchup, and some dry … Read more
Touring the Guatemalan Town Fair: The Spinning Games
Although we began the tour through the typical Guatemalan town fair yesterday, it was not declared until today. By the way, town fair are pretty much the same as county fairs in the U.S. and in other parts of the world. Anyway, this week we will take a tour through the town patron’s saint fair … Read more
Today Is Children’s Day in Guatemala
Two kids, one on each side of the fun, are seen in this Día del Niño, Children’s Day in Guatemala. I wish for all children in Guatemala to have a fulfilling childhood with lots of fun and safety environment and not only today we remember or pay attention to the less fortunate kids in Guatemala. … Read more
Fair Food: Panes con pollo
Simple Guatemalan fair food. Take some pirujo bread, add lettuce, mayonaise, tomato sauce, chile sauce and shredded chicken meat you have panes con pollo; a staple of the Lent season. Do you want to know what to expect in terms of food and things to do for the season? Take a tour through the Guatemalan … Read more
Setting Up Shop for Christmas Season
So after the Burning of the Devil is over and the set up of the Nacimientos has already began, we can assume the Christmas season will be in full steam and that means the Guatemalan fairs will mushroom onto the main squares of every town and city. In the picture above, we cought a glimpse … Read more
Guatemalan Fair: The Pine-needle Processional Carpets
The making of these processional carpets is such a community-forming and bonding activity since in the process participate many, if not all, of the neighbors and family members. These traditions, festive calendar dates and special celebrations mark very strongly what makes a normal human being into a hard-core Guatemalan. You break the link or access to these experiences and you only have a person that was born in Guatemala; a fact as worthless as the fact of having had a pair of boots once.
Guatemalan Fair: The Sawdust Processional Carpets
The People of La Antigua Guatemala and surrounding villages simply love to make processional carpets and the town fair provides the perfect excuse to make sawdust and flower carpets throughout the year; really why wait for Semana Santa (Holy Week).
Guatemalan Fair: The Charcoal-broiled Meat Booth
The charcoal-grilled meat stall has gotten so hip that you now find it not only in fairs, but around La Antigua Guatemala in parks, markets and sidewalks. Back in February 20th, 2007, I showed you an extremely popular stall of grilled meats in Tanque de la Unión park from a bird’s eye point of view. In the picture above, chicken and beef steak were being offered along broiled potatoes. Q10 ($1.25) for a portion of the meat of your choice, chirmol (read the side note), guacamol and potatoes; definitely, not too bad of a deal.
Guatemalan Fair: The Seeds Stall
I don’t know if you have noticed this, but seeds are very popular in Guatemala. If you recall the entries Name the seeds! or Guatemalan sweets; so it is obvious that seeds had to present in a fair booth. Okay, what do we have here? Peanuts in their shell, Guatemalan pumpkin in melcocha syrup, sesame seeds with melcocha, salty fried or roasted habas (broad beans); that’s as far as I can distinguish. Read the entry on Guatemalan sweets if you want to know what is melcocha.
Guatemalan Fair: The Games
The Latin American lottery is played with cardboards of nine images, each cardboard is different, bean or maize counts, and a person calling out aloud the name of the images: La Chalupa, El Borracho, El Catrín, La Campana, El Cantaro, et-cetera. Whoever gets all nine images called out and accounted for with beans or maize seeds wins the lottery, if, and only if they scream with all their lungs LO-TE-RIIIIAAAAA.
Guatemalan Fair: Fresh Fruit Stall
After all the pounds we have gained this week at the San Pedro Las Huertas Fair, it is nice to come across some healthy food. For Q5 ($0.65) we can take any fresh fruit bags and we will need the savings since we already lost quite a few Quetzales at the others fair stands. Now, even though I have shown all these Guatemalan fair food and even describe it as tasteful and delicious, I don’t want to pass it as healthy. Fair food is junk food. I am so glad these fair food vendors have not come across the Super Size Me concept!