Mothers Day in Mexico

Mother’s Day is celebrated May 10th in Mexico. And it is a very big deal. I’ve heard some people compare it to Christmas for Mom. There is lots of advertising of restaurant deals, appliance sales, and candy and flowers are prominently displayed in the stores.
I had heard from a couple different people that our municipality, Bahia de Banderas, was having a big Mother's Day event. Our friend Alex said that there were raffles with some decent prizes and it was open to all moms and didn’t cost anything, so I thought I’d check it out.
I’ll start out by saying this event was not like any other I’ve been to.
I knew it was scheduled to start at 3, but then again I know that if you get to an event at the starting time, you are almost always early. I got to the small town of San Jose right before 3, figuring that would give me time to get it ahead of the crowd.
Much to my surprise, I easily found a convenient parking spot near the entrance to the Esplanada, which is a big, enclosed park area used for futbol games and big events. There were hundreds of people walking in the streets near the Esplanada entrance. As I got to the entrance, I saw a huge line of women. This line went a block down the street then turned down another street. I went to the entrance where we went in for other events with the fire department or with our press credentials. From there I couldn’t even see the end of the line! I was told to go back to the main entrance. I did not have to wait in line and went in. There are some advantages of being part of the press.
They had just started letting the women in and I entered with the first group. As I stood in line with a group of women from one of the senior citizen groups I talked to several of them about their kids and grandchildren. A couple ladies who had walkers were placed in plastic chairs and carried down the hillside to the flatter area by some men. We each had a ticket to enter the raffle and the first thing we did was put our tickets in the hopper. Then each lady picked a colored ball out of a box. The color determined which prize you got. I saw mixing bowls, knife sets, glassware, plastic containers, utensils and other small kitchenware. I received a set of bowls with plastic covers. Then each person got a bottle of water and a bag of candy.
The main area was set up with a big stage and lots of chairs. Women were quickly scouting out sections of chairs for their groups. I noticed a number of the groups had matching outfits. These were groups of ladies from the “Casas de la Tercer Edad” or senior citizen centers throughout the municipality. Many groups had been brought to the event by buses.
I quickly found my friends in the municipal press department. They told me that about 7,000 tickets had been given out ahead of the event and that before long the whole area would be packed. The event was a joint effort between the municipality and DIF, the social service agency. Today’s newspaper reports attendance at about 10,000!
People just kept steadily coming in, getting their gifts and filling up the seats. I had been there about an hour and nothing much was happening. There was some taped music and the announcer made a comment or two. Then I noticed that the other gate had been opened and people were now flooding in through 2 gates. I offered to help collect the raffle tickets as people came in. The present giving out area was really busy!
The entertainment finally started around 4:30. First up was Alvaro Martinez, a young boy who sang mariachi type songs. He was followed by Ruth Nayeli, the girl who won the Festival of the Bahia de Banderas talent contest in February. She is only about 11 years old and a great performer. Next up was the Municipal Orchestra. After that, the announcer gave away some raffle prizes. The names were called out and the ladies came up to collect their prizes.
Oh, the prizes! When Alex told me there would be prizes, he said maybe you will win a refrigerator. I thought he was kidding. Nope. The prizes ranged from irons, blenders and pots and pans sets up to home theater sets, TVs, stereos, stoves, refrigerators, microwaves, a dining room set and a living room set.
Only a few smaller prizes were given out at that time, then the entertainment resumed. The main act was a woman named Lucila Mariscal, or Dona Lencha. She is an actress, comedian and singer. She and a partner entertained the crowd with their comedy, then after that she sang and told more stories and jokes. My Spanish isn’t really up to all those jokes! But the crowd really enjoyed it.
Throughout the whole time, more and more people were arriving. The available chairs were quickly filled. The announcer said chairs were for mamas only, and staff people were going around making sure that kids and men were aware of that. As far as staff, there were literally hundreds of staff doing everything from controlling the line, handing out water and prizes, helping people find chairs, and just being in the crowd to help if any problems arose. Many police were around and the entire fire department was also there with all the trucks. They were stationed at each corner of the area with medical bags ready.
I saw trucks steadily coming to the event delivering more chairs. Ladies crowded around the trucks to get a chair, but there was no jostling or arguing. A set of bleachers was quickly assembled at the back of the field and ladies anxiously awaited that seating. Still, with all that, there was a standing room only crowd. Many of the ladies were prepared and brought parasols for the sun and small blankets to sit on. Those in addition to the “home in a bag” that many women carry – tissues, toilet paper, snacks.
After the entertainment ended, about 7:30, the real business of the event started – the raffle prizes. As names were called out, a seemingly endless parade of ladies went to the front to claim their prizes. I didn’t hear one complaint about what they won, whether it was a set of knives or a new TV. There were hundreds of prizes, and the crowd stayed pretty quiet so everyone could hear the names being called out.
As ladies got their irons, blenders and other smaller gifts, I wondered how a person was supposed to get their new stove home. The announcer said if anyone won a prize and could not get it home due to the size, go give your name, address and telephone number to the fire department and it would be delivered to your home. I did see women hauling off their stereos and microwaves, not taking any chances that it would be lost or delayed in delivery! Prizes large and small were given out steadily. One short break was taken when the medics had to attend to a person in the crowd and carry her to the ambulance. The announcer said he would wait a minute so no one would miss hearing the names called.
About 9:45 the prizes were finally all gone. I didn’t win the dining room set or the “kitchen package” which included a stove and a microwave, I didn’t even win an iron.
People packed up their presents, kids and belongings and headed home. I had to wait at my car for a little while since there were so many people walking in the street that it would have been dangerous to drive.
All in all, it was an unforgettable event, something my local friends thought was interesting. “It’s just a party,” they said. “What’s the big deal?” I had a hard time explaining to them how you would never see an event like that in the US. One where everyone who came was given a gift by the government, where people would be willing to sit patiently and wait for hours to see if they won an additional prize, where arguments wouldn’t take place over the few available chairs. To me, it was nice to see so many women of all ages out enjoying the afternoon and evening. But I did have one question – who cooked dinner?