Las Posadas is a Mexican festival from December 16th to December 24th. People form a procession visiting houses asking for shelter, with one house designated as an “inn” each night. The festival includes music, dancing, food, and prayer, and concludes with a trip to the church for the midnight Nativity Mass. It is a deeply religious event that celebrates kindness, generosity, and love among members of a community.
Las Posadas is a traditional Mexican festival that takes place from December 16th to December 24th. Mary and Joseph’s search for refuge is commemorated with a series of festivities around the neighborhood. In some parts of Mexico, it is an important holiday, in which the entire community participates. Mexican immigrants in other parts of the world may also celebrate Las Posadas, if the immigrant community is large enough and attendance is not limited to Mexicans; other people from the community are certainly welcome to join.
In Spanish, Las Posadas means “The Inns” and during this festival people form a procession that symbolically visits the houses asking for shelter. People in the procession dress up, sing songs, and sometimes bring a donkey or donkey with them to represent the donkey that carried Mary to Jerusalem. One house in particular is designated as an “inn” each night, and when the procession reaches that house, the hosts welcome them to a Posadas fiesta that includes music, dancing, food, and prayer.
Choosing a different house to host the party each night of this festival ensures that everyone in a neighborhood can attend without overburdening any given host. In some regions the procession solemnly asks for refuge in two other houses before reaching the place of the party designated for the evening, in memory of the difficulty Mary and Joseph had when they tried to take refuge before the birth of Christ. Typically, the party location is decked out with a large nativity scene.
At the party, guests are served an assortment of traditional Mexican treats and children play with a piñata that is traditionally made in the shape of a star. On the last night of Las Posadas, the fiesta concludes with a trip to the church for the midnight Nativity Mass. Usually many neighborhoods in a city have Posadas parties, and these parties can meet as they make their way through the streets to the church.
Mexico is a very religious country, and while Las Posadas are a great excuse for socializing and partying, it’s also a deeply religious event. Many communities may join in prayer at the nativity scene before the holiday begins, for example, and traditional Posadas songs are filled with religious symbolism. The holiday also celebrates and encourages kindness, generosity, and love among members of a community.
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