LA GUELAGUETZA (ingles)

La Guelaguetza, the most important custom of the people of Oaxaca, - is derived from the Zapotec word "Guendalezaa" meaning "gift, present, compliance" - because from the colony, it was customary for wealthy landowners Spaniards received from the Indians cultivating their land, the firstfruits of this harvested in the fields, which were called Guelaguetza.

Likewise, in the villages of Oaxaca, known as Guelaguetza to an ancient tradition in which, when invited to friends to attend a party, wedding, christening, death or stewardship, guests are presented but not with hands empty, they always carry their cooperation or Guelaguetza; which can be food, drink, or cash, but this cooperation is not taken as a gift, because the recipient, it points in a book to find out what each person cooperates, so that when someone celebrates a Village similar event, the guests wear the same thing in the past have been that person.

With this sentiment the April 25, 1932 the fourth centenary of the elevation of Oaxaca City, according to the Royal Decree issued by King Charles V of Spain in Medina de Ocampo was commemorated. Was performed on this occasion "Homage Racial" offered to the City of Oaxaca, in the person of Margarita Santaella, "Miss Oaxaca"; in which each of the seven regions of the state folk: La Costa, La Cañada, La Mixteca, La Sierra, El Alto Papaloapan, The Isthmus and The Central Valley; offered in a clearing on the slopes of Cerro del Fortin, its main dances and traditional dances, along with characteristic products of their land as fruit or crafts regaling the "Miss Oaxaca" and the public at the end of each performance.


INCLUSION OF GUELAGUETZA
WITHIN THE PARTY OF THE HILL MONDAY.

It was not until the beginning of the fifties when it was decided to include La Guelaguetza, show dances and dances and properly organized to Las Fiestas del Lunes del Cerro, with such success that soon became the most important event of this parties, becoming known today on the world stage to present the folkloric expressions only state with more than 16 indigenous ethnic groups, the largest number of municipalities and -570- greatest biodiversity in Mexico.

Las Fiestas del Lunes del Cerro are made throughout the month of July with folk, cultural and sporting presentations projecting the Guelaguetza, Donají ... The Man and bike racing.

Dances and customs that have made Oaxaca, a people without forgetting their ancestral roots, replete opens to the future.
Dates: The Guelaguetza is celebrated every year in the second Monday after the July 16, except when the first Monday falls on July 18, death anniversary of Benito Juárez. In that case, the celebrations are postponed one week.