The Michoacán Ministry of Culture (Secum), in collaboration with the San Luis Potosí Ministry of Culture (Secult), announced the arrival of Xantolo to the state, a traditional festival of the Huasteca Potosina region where the dead are honored with dance, music, and offerings. This festival will be exhibited for the first time in the state.
In a press conference, Michoacán’s Secretary of Culture, Tamara Sosa, celebrated an alliance that will unite the Huasteca Potosina region with the Purépecha land. This exchange will allow their colors, dances, music, and memory to interact with the offerings and rituals of the Night of Souls in Michoacán, in a cultural encounter that will be deeply enriching for the Michoacán community.
For his part, Mario García Valdez, Secretary of Culture of San Luis Potosí, affirmed that the arrival of Xantolo in Michoacán seeks to promote this ancestral festival, which combines comparsas, huehues, music, dances, and rituals of great symbolic richness, nationally. He added that this effort responds to the vision of uniting indigenous peoples through their living expressions.
Activities in Michoacán include the photography exhibition “The Xantolo Festival,” on October 15 in Morelia; on the 18th of the same month, there will be a discussion, an interactive walk through the Historic Center, and a monumental altar, in addition to presentations by comparsas from Potosí and Purépecha groups.
On October 19, in Pátzcuaro, there will be an opening ritual, concerts by Huasteco trios, and traditional dance and music. All activities will be public and free.
With this alliance, the governments of Michoacán and San Luis Potosí strengthen the projection of their cultural heritage, recognizing tradition as a living exercise in the transmission of knowledge. Xantolo, which has already been shared in places like Zacatecas and Chicago, now arrives in Michoacán to offer the public a unique experience of identity, memory, and community.
Source: cultura.michoacan.gob
