Many communities in Guatemala have two names: a Mayan name and a Catholic name, usually a saint. This town is originally Tolimán, named after one of the two neighboring volcanoes. A large part of its identity as a Christian community comes from its second name, San Lucas Evangelista, Saint Luke the Evangelist. The Catholic Church celebrates at least one saint each day of the year, and these feast days, or Ferias, are very important in the lives of the Guatemalan cities, towns, and villages that bear the names of the saints being celebrated.

     Just as Santa Teresita honors its patron saint on October 15, this community marks the Feast of San Lucas on October 18.

     Without looking at a calendar, it could have been difficult to know which day was actually the feast day – at least, difficult until the onslaught of fireworks early that morning. Although Saturday the 18th was the big day, the festing started two weeks in advance. There were six ferris wheels (Ruedos de Chicago) and other hand-turned rides, along with video arcades, foosball arcades, chance games, and many vendors with food, novelties, music, and every imaginable way to entice people to spend their money. Almost twenty large stands sold the official Feria snack food: roscas, which are delicious, donut-shaped hard cookies covered with sesame seeds and perfect for dunking in hot chocolate. All of the vendors had a good business going both day and night. What used to be the main streets of San Lucas had the definite feel of a carnival midway.

     With all of the action and excitement, the children and youth didn’t mind at all that the Feria came right at the end of their school year.

     Music, milling, and relaxing became the way of life for these weeks. Visitors came from many surrounding communities to enjoy the fun. During the second week, much work around town ceased so that people could participate in the activities. It did not matter if one was Catholic or not; the Feria is everyone’s celebration.

     There were various activities throughout the second week, especially during the days surrounding the actual feast day. There were the crowning of the Mayan Princess, an arts fair, a parade, a nightly dance, processions with a statue of San Lucas, several masses, a horse show, a bicycle race, and many concerts in the park and at the church.

     The origin of the Feria is the celebration of the community’s patron saint. Although this element was certainly retained, much of the almost four-week fiesta celebrated the community as a whole, recognizing its unique character, history, and traditions.

     On the back of the official Feria program was printed a poem by Don Ricardo Vielman A., entitled Canto A Mi Tierra (Song to My Land):

     My dear little city, many have gone from you
     I will always be with you, dear San Lucas Tolimán

     Your natural beauties and your climate without equal
     The green of your coffee fields, your grand lake without rival

     I am happy when here with you; here I was born and here I remain
     You have always given me shelter; to leave you.... By God, I cannot!

     The crowning of the Mayan Princess, the Ixmucahné, took place on Monday, October 13 in the community hall.

     Inside the hall, the stage was set with elegant seats inside a large faux grass hut and a backdrop decorated with Mayan religious symbols. Extending out from the stage and fifty feet into the audience was a runway covered with a pine carpet and lined with palm branches and unlit candles. A band sat to the right of the audience; they are Ruk’u’x Y’a, a group of San Lucas high school students who play original music on traditional wooden instruments such as flute and marimba.

     The celebration began with two principal dancers, both male, making their way up the runway. One carried incense, and the other held a large candle. They stopped to light each of the candles lining the runway, lighting the way to the crowning.

     One of these dancers returned to the back of the hall to escort last year’s princess up to her seat on the stage. One by one, they escorted to the stage eight visiting princesses from other communities, all wearing the red and white San Lucas colors. Two children in traditional dress followed, carrying the Mayan traditions to their own generation. All of the dancing was slow, deliberate, and graceful. Upon finishing their escorting, the male dancers bowed to last year’s Ixmucahné and left the stage area.

     Finally, the new princess, Clara Ajcalón, entered and made her way to the stage with an escort carrying incense and a young attendant who scattered candy behind her. She took her place on the stage to await her crowning as the 1997-1998 Ixmucahné of San Lucas Tolimán.

     A Mayan cultural group from nearby Santiago Atitlán performed two songs with guitars, mandolin, flute, percussion, and singing. This group is a Tz’utujil group; Cakchiquel is the language and culture of San Lucas and a wide area to the north, south, and east of Lake Atitlán. Tz’utujil is the language and culture of a small area to the west of San Lucas, including the community of Santiago Atitlán.

     The previous year’s princess spoke about culture, about time, about the country of Guatemala, and about her community of San Lucas Tolimán. She thanked the community for the honor of representing San Lucas for this past year. When she finished paying tribute to her people, she passed her candle, large woven shawl, forehead plate, and necklace to Clara Ajcalón. When she had passed on all these, and her reign, she was escorted out of the hall by one of the dancers.

     The new princess spoke about the honor it will be for her to represent her community in this way for the next year. She did this in Cakchiquel and in Spanish.

     Following the passing of the reign to the new princess, more dramatic presentations and music followed until early morning. San Lucas now has a new Ixmucahné to represent its people for the next year.

     The parade on Thursday the 16th started up the hill from the center of town, in front of an elementary school called Cantón de la Cruz. Snaking their way from there to the municipal park, groups of dancers and musicians represented many of the town’s schools. Prominent were the bands from the Parroquia’s Colegio and the Instituto, the high school which uses the Colegio’s facilities in the afternoon. The newly crowned Ixmucahné and her attendants also marched.

     In the park, all of the groups filled the main area in front of the grandstand, where the mayor of San Lucas spoke about the community. He called attention to and honored all those who had participated in the parade. A band from Sololá, the capital of this departamento, or province, played at intervals. This group also led the assembly in singing the national anthem.

     The purpose of the Feria is the celebration of the feast day of San Lucas Evangelista. This parade and civic ceremony extended the fiesta from the Catholic community to the whole of the life of San Lucas, celebrating with pride not only the person of San Lucas but the community bearing his name.

     Nobody but the deaf (or the lucky ones who sleep very soundly) could not have known when the actual feast day, Saturday the 18th, had arrived. The fireworks began at 3:00 a.m. and continued their light and sound show for at least two hours. It is called awakening the saint;
the revelers probably awakened all of San Lucas Tolimán and its surrounding villages.

     From 3:30 until 5:30, three bands took turns giving a concert from the front steps of the church. They were a brass band, a marimba trio, and a ten-piece outfit with marimba, horns, percussion, bass, and vocals. The churchyard became a dance floor as some of the hundreds of celebrants stepped to the music.

     As they did throughout many of this year’s Feria events, rains fell towards the end of the concerts. Most faces held their smiles and their joy; after the recent weeks of heavy downpours, no little sprinkle could dampen the spirit of this fiesta.

     Beginning at 7:30 a.m., there were three Masses at the church. The 10:00 Mass was the principal celebration, preceded by a procession and dancing in the churchyard. Fathers John Goggin, John Francis Brandes, and David Roney concelebrated this liturgy. Music group La Rondalla led the assembly with marimba, guitar, bass, and mandolin in high-spirited music. Here is a translation of the closing song of Mass:

     After the last official day of the celebration, Monday the 20th, visible traces of the Feria began to slowly disappear. The makeshift markets, the rides, the rosca stands, the dining tents, and the arcades were steadily disassembled and taken away. Slowly but surely, the real San Lucas emerged from the many temporary structures and the festivities which had taken over its streets.

     The Feria of 1997 has ended, but the real spirit of San Lucas Tolimán, an unmistakable joy and perseverance in the face of both poverty and uncertainty, has been uplifted and celebrated. By the grace of God, and perhaps with the prayers of the community’s patron saint, may it be continually strengthened through the faith, hope, love, and justice with which San Lucas Evangelista challenged us through his writings all those years ago.