Fiesta de San Jerónimo

It celebrates the patron saint with great jubilation. There are dances (by santiagueros and concheros) and firework structures within the religious festivities; as well as the cultural, agricultural and livestock fair, along games and family fun. It also features traditional bullfight.

This event is held every year on 30 September, the feast of Saint Jerome.

The pueblo. San Jerónimo Aculco-Lídice, in Magdalena Contreras and the southern edge of Álvaro Obregón, is one of the original pueblos absorbed by the city as it spread south in the twentieth century. Its sixteenth-century parish and its patronal feast are the surviving markers of that older identity.

What happens. The novena in the nine days before, the principal mass on 30 September, and the procession carrying the image of the saint through the streets with a band behind it. Dance groups perform in the atrium, which is dressed with flowers and paper cut-outs, and the fair outside — food stalls, rides, games — runs for several days. Fireworks close the night.

Practical notes. The area is served by Metrobús along Insurgentes and by taxi from San Ángel; there is no Metro nearby. The parish publishes the programme a few weeks ahead. Entry is free and the fair runs on cash. Ask before photographing people.