What this section covers. The parts of the city that belong to the people who live here — the pueblos, the markets, the festivals and the customs that organise the year.
The calendar that matters. Día de Muertos, 1 and 2 November, at its strongest in Míxquic, Xochimilco and Iztapalapa. 12 December, the Virgin of Guadalupe, the largest Catholic pilgrimage in the Americas. Holy Week in Iztapalapa, staged since 1843. The posadas from 16 to 24 December, and the Niñopa of Xochimilco, a sixteenth-century image whose custodianship has a waiting list decades long. Plus the patronal feast of every original pueblo, each with its novena, procession, fair and fireworks.
The everyday version. The markets — La Merced, Jamaica, San Juan, Sonora. Pulque, drunk here long before the Spanish arrived. Danzón on the Zócalo on Saturdays, free and open to anyone. Lucha libre. Charrería, the national sport and UNESCO heritage, in neighbourhood rings across the south and east.
How to be there properly. Almost all of it is free and unticketed, and none of it is staged for visitors. Ask before photographing people, carry cash and small change, and treat a vigil or a procession as what it is.
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