page_title: Carnival in Mexico
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Carnival in Mexico / History
caption_attribution_description: English: "Turk" dancing at the Carnival of Huejotzingo, PUebla, Mexico
context_page_description: Carnival in Mexico is celebrated by about 225 communities in various ways, with the largest and best known modern celebrations occurring in Mazatlán and the city of Veracruz.
  Larger celebrations are also found in the Baja California and Yucatán Peninsulas, similar to other Carnivals with floats, queens and costumes but are not as large as those in Rio de Janeiro and New Orleans. Smaller and more rural communities have Carnival traditions which have conserved more of Mexico's indigenous and religious heritage and vary depending on the local indigenous cultures that Carnival was assimilated into. The largest of this kind is held in Huejotzingo, Puebla, with mock battles based on the Battle of Puebla and reenactments of stories. Other important Carnival variations can be found in Tlaxcala, Oaxaca, Chiapas, Jalisco, Morelos and some parts of Mexico City.
context_section_description: Established in Europe in the Middle Ages, Carnival came to Mexico with the Spanish and during the colonial period was celebrated in one form or another. Its acceptance among the indigenous population stemmed from the fact that it coincided with various indigenous festivals, such as Nemontemi for the Nahuas and Cabik for the Mayas, both of which refer to the “lost days” of the Mesoamerican calendar, when faces were covered to repel or confuse evil. Its popularity during the rest of the colonial period continued because it was one time when normal rules could be broken especially with the use of masks to hide identities from the authorities.
  In the eighteenth century, the crown made a concerted effort to suppress the excesses of carnival, banning the wearing of masks, forbidding laypeople to dress as clerics, forbidding cross dressing.  Celebrations of carnival had been especially lively and drunken by Indians and castas.  The authorities' toleration in the earlier colonial period was replaced by a repression of this period of social inversion and role reversal.  Although there had been efforts to tamp down the festivities in the late seventeenth century, with the period under viceroy Don Juan de Acuña the measures finally seemed to take hold; "the viceroy stopped it in its tracks and it never recovered."
  Public celebrations of Carnival waned in the 19th century after Mexico's independence and later Liberal movements discouraged it as an element of the country's colonial past. From the late 19th century to the early 20th, the festival as a major public event has made something of a comeback in areas such as Veracruz, northwestern Mexico and the Yucatán Peninsula. The large scale celebrations have mostly become divorced from their religious roots with commercialization in the latter 20th century. However, the numerous smaller celebrations in rural areas have maintained indigenous and religious elements, making its manifestation varied depending on which indigenous cultures the celebration melded.
  The large modern celebrations have been sponsored by city governments as an important social and tourist event. In 2012 Veracruz allowed visitors to camp on the city's tourist beaches. However, they are not without problems or controversies. There are occasionally problems with disorderly conduct, excessive alcohol consumption and fighting in the streets. The Veracruz carnival has been criticized by Protestant/Evangelical Christian groups for moral reasons. Similarly the 2012 Carnival in Puerto Vallarta caused controversy. The committee responsible for it was fired as the event was criticized as “too sexual in content, too gay,…” For the 2013 Carnival, the Veracruz committee has decided to prohibit advertising for political candidates and parties.
caption: Participant dressed as a "Turk" for the Carnival of Huejotzingo, Puebla
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