Too many people go to Mexico and never experience the local culture. Some eat only in chain or fast-food restaurants and don't experience Mexican food or culture. If you go to Mexico, you'll want to experience the local culture whenever you can.

To Market, to Market

One of the best places to soak up local culture is in el mercado or the Mexican market. Every town and many villages have one, sometimes held in a special building or held informally in the zócalo. Some occur daily, while others are held weekly on a particular day. You'll wander through a maze of stalls overflowing with exotic fruits, fragrant flowers, aromatic cheeses, colorful clothing, plucked chickens, and hanging meat.

Hanging Out in the Zócalo

Every town and city in Mexico has a zócalo or main square. It's here that the local people gather to visit and gossip. Old or young, single or in couples, people take the time to sit on Victorian iron benches and talk or watch the children scampering about. Artists also gather here to paint portraits of people or town scenes. A favorite pastime in any Mexican city zócalo is to get your shoes shined and attended to by a professional shoe shiner.

A wrought-iron Victorian gazebo bandstand stands in the middle of many zócalo s. Here, you can sit and listen to band concerts on Saturday afternoons. Most zócalo s have been planted with large old, manicured trees, their trunks painted white to ward off insects, so everyone can find refuge from the afternoon heat. Some have fountains, also, and beautiful gardens. A colorful fixture on any zócalo is the balloon man, with his hundreds of multicolored balloons in the shapes of animals, a delight to all the children.

The largest zócalo in Mexico is Plaza de la Constitución in Mexico City. In fact, it's the second largest plaza in the world after Tiananmen Square in Beijing, China. Once known as the Plaza Mayor and later as the Plaza de Armas, Plaza de la Contitución isn't named for any of the constitutions that have governed Mexico but instead for the Cadiz Constitution that was signed in Spain in 1812.

Every Day Is a Fiesta

There's a fiesta just about every day in Mexico. The Mexican government estimates there are over 6,000 held annually in towns and villages all over Mexico. Of these, twenty-seven are considered major, lasting for several days and attracting thousands of people. In addition to these are the carnavals held before Lent in the cities of Veracruz and Mazatlán and a myriad of ferias, or agricultural fairs, held throughout the country.

The pre-Columbian people of Mexico worshiped many gods. When the Spanish missionaries forced Catholicism on them, they saw similarities between the rituals their own high priests performed and those of the Catholic Church. Today, the fiestas held all over Mexico are a blending of these two types of rituals, and nearly all have a basis in Catholicism. Processions, masses, and the reciting of rosaries are all part of the festivities. The Spaniards also introduced activities that gave a more entertaining side to the indigenous rituals. Besides music and dance and lots of good food, fiestas may have charreadas, bullfights, parades and gambling. Fiestas usually take place around the main square of a town or village.