Candelaria, San Miguel’s festival of plants and flowers, continues to fill the centrally located Parque Juárez with color and fragrance. Now in its 16th year, the annual fair is a blend of religious and local community celebrations completely unique to San Miguel.

Around eighty flower sellers—from Guanajuato to as far away as Veracruz, Puebla, Mexico City and Morelos—bring for sale an enormous variety of garden and indoor plants from simple cacti to the most exotic tropical palms and flowers, from fruit trees to Dutch tulips, ranging in price from 10 to 5000 pesos. The festival continues at the park until February 7.

Gerardo Arteaga, director of the Ecology Department, confirms that rents paid by vendors for participating in the fair will again be used exclusively to maintain and improve the park.

The festival of La Candelaria, on February 2, celebrates both the purification of the Virgin Mary after giving birth and the presentation of Jesus as “The Light of the World” in the temple, 40 days after his birth. Mary’s purification, in the Catholic faith, is represented as the Virgin of the Candelaria, who cradles Baby Jesus in her left arm and a candle symbolizing the light in her right hand. The associated religious procession is known as the “Festival of Lights.”

Another aspect of this tradition, one with prehispanic origins, is the Blessing of Seeds. Heads of rural communities bring seeds for the next season’s crops to be blessed at the morning mass. The tradition continues to this day among campesinos and those who grow flowers for Easter festivities.

The Oratorio church, at the end of calle Insurgentes by the Plaza Cívica, is home to the only statue of the Virgen de la Candelaria. On February 2, the statue is placed on the church altar to bless the faithful who bring candles, seeds and nativity scene figures of Baby Jesus. This statue of the Virgin is then removed from public viewing until the next year.

Candelaria is also linked to Three Kings Day, January 6, when the Rosca de Reyes (Kings’ cake) is cut. Whoever finds the small plastic doll (representing the Baby Jesus) baked in the cake is considered the godfather and must host a party on February 2. 

Don Félix Luna, local expert in San Miguel traditions, says that in prerevolutionary times, the figure of Baby Jesus from a nativity scene would be taken to church by an appointed godfather, who would later treat guests to ice cream or cake from the market that was in front of the Parroquia. It was in front of that same market that the tradition of selling flowers during Candelaria began. After the Revolution of 1910, the tradition nearly disappeared. Over the years, however, flower-sellers from other parts of the country joined the Candelaria Flower Fair. By 1991, the fair had become so large that it had to be relocated to Parque Juárez, where it continues to this day.

As in previous years, the fair is complemented with entertainment, cultural events and information booths. Representatives from El Charco del Ingenio (the Botanical Garden) provide information about local flora, and the Ecology Department’s Casas Verdes (Greenhouse) program offers information on how to create a low-cost greenhouse for your home. Another interesting booth is that of Zumar Fidepo, offering information about medicinal herbs and plants.

The Candelaria Flower Fair is a special San Miguel tradition that, year after year, not only generates many benefits for flower-growers and plant-lovers, but also provides funds to maintain Parque Juárez.

Don Bruno Galicia, in his 80s, has sold flowers since 1954. Once a week, Don Bruno would come from Atlacomulco, Morelos, to sell his flowers in front of Las Monjas church. He also came during La Candelaria.

During one such visit, he met Doña María Gómez, whom he later married. Doña María later joined him in the flower business. Each year, they drive their truck to San Miguel-loaded with geraniums, violets, bougainvillias and other plants to participate in the fair.

One of the more colorful and well-stocked stands in the fair is that of Doña Hortensia Gutiérrez, who comes from Xochimilco, an area famous since pre Hispanic times for its flowers grown on man-made islands floating on a lake.

Besides being named after a flower, Doña Hortensia claims she was born among flowers as her grandparents were also flower growers. She is considered a pioneer from the “old days” at the Parroquia, with her nearly 30 years of participation in the fair. She sells a great variety of plants: ornamentals, medicinal herbs and, of course, flowers—Dutch tulips, redolent roses, vibrant violets and many others.