How can I resist a festival, especially one with dancers in the most elaborate outfits I have ever seen.

The first Friday in March is the annual gathering of the Concheros, who come, dressed in pre-Hispanic outfits, from small towns near San Miguel to dance all afternoon and into the evening in the Jardin, the central meeting place of San Miguel. Properly called, El Señor de la Conquista (the Lord of the Conquest), the event commemorates the conversion of the indigenous people to Catholicism by the Conquistadors. When the Spaniards attempted to eliminate all pagan traditions, the dancing could not be stopped. Hence the event, with traditional dancing, was incorporated into a Catholic Holiday.

Crowds of San Miguel residents come to the Jardin to await the dancers. One by one the groups of men, women and children arrive to the beat of drums and take their places on the streets surrounding the Jardin. We watch the dancing and take photos of the elaborate costumes and huge feathered headdresses. The groups get a break to file into the Parroquia and receive the blessing of the clergy. Then they take their places again and continue dancing, almost without stop into the evening.