Carnival in Pátzcuaro

Toritos de petate, maringuías, and the days before Lent

First you hear the music.

Then the bull appears.

During Carnival, different streets in Pátzcuaro receive the toritos de petate, accompanied by musicians and characters whose appearance, names, and ways of taking part have changed over time.

Traditionally, the movement reaches its main days on the Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday before Ash Wednesday.

There is no need to look for one large, single parade.

The bulls leave different neighborhoods, move through the streets, visit parts of the city, and later return to the place where they began.

A tradition whose origin does not fit one explanation

The history of the toritos de petate is more complex than it is often made to seem.

Some interpretations connect their antecedents with the introduction of cattle and bullfighting during the colonial period; others have studied the historical participation of Indigenous, African, and mixed populations; there are also interpretations involving social satire and evangelization.

Michoacán’s own Ministry of Culture recognizes that there are different theories about the origin and meaning of the toritos.

Visit Pátzcuaro therefore will not present as certainty a simple formula such as “the Franciscans invented the torito to evangelize,” nor will it automatically attribute its origin to Vasco de Quiroga.

These are explanations that have been transmitted and debated.

They should be preserved as such.

The bull and those who accompany it

For generations, Pátzcuaro has remembered toritos associated with different neighborhoods.

Alongside the bull appear characters such as the maringuías, the caporal, the little horse, monkeys, and other companions, although the cast and its interpretation have not remained identical.

Ways of making and decorating the bull also change. Structures, materials, paper, colors, and names respond to different groups and moments.

A living tradition does not need to remain frozen in order to remain recognizable.

Three days in the streets

On Carnival Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday, groups move through different parts of Pátzcuaro.

Music often announces their arrival before the bull comes into view.

Some families ask for a dance in front of their homes; the groups continue through the streets, and on Shrove Tuesday some neighborhoods may hold the so-called killing of the bull, a symbolic close to that figure’s participation.

Not every neighborhood follows exactly the same sequence.

Watching the changes too

Part of Carnival’s richness lies precisely in observing what is preserved and what changes.

Characters acquire new meanings, new materials appear, children’s groups take part, new neighborhoods join, and local debates emerge over the way some figures are represented.

Visit Pátzcuaro does not need to decide which version is “authentic.”

It does need to record these differences without turning the memory of one period into the rule for every other.

Moving through it

You do not always have to wait for the bull in the plaza.

If you walk through Pátzcuaro during those days, you may hear a band coming around a corner, encounter a group crossing a street, or see a family step outside when they recognize that the bull is approaching.

Carnival is understood differently there.

Not as a performance with a fixed beginning and end, but as something that moves through the city for several days.

Next edition / Practical information

Carnival has a movable date tied to the beginning of Lent.

Its main days traditionally fall on the Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday before Ash Wednesday.

Competitions, gatherings, routes, schedules, participating groups, and street closures must be confirmed for each edition.

Information for the next edition is pending confirmation.