La feria in San Miguel Escobar
On the outskirts of Antigua and tucked into the foothills of Volcano Agua, is the town of San Miguel Escobar, a coffee-growing town rich in Catholic tradition and cultural pride, which comes alive every September as the community comes together to celebrate the annual “feria.” Every September 29th, the town honors its namesake, the heavenly host of angels and one of only three angels referred to by name in the New and Old Testament. While the main celebration takes place on the 29th, the festivities last for two weeks. Eduardo Hernández, a small-scale coffee farmer originally from San Miguel Escobar, took the time to describe the atmosphere of the feria, full of traditional music, mass services, food, processions, and fireworks. “It’s a time of a lot of joy.”
In the transcourse of the celebrations, the sculpture of San Miguel remains in the parish, however a replica is passed from family to family who take on the responsibility of receiving San Miguel, a great honor believed to bestow blessings and good fortune on the recipients. Beyond visiting the replica in the homes of community members and church leaders, people in San Miguel attend a special holy mass hosted by the Bishop of the Diocese.
Eduardo explains what the events entailed pre-pandemic: “After the holy mass, there was normally a procession through the entire town to visit the different holy sites and altars, and the people would accompany this procession...sometimes I would have to give a [coffee] tour on this date, and afterwards I would say, ‘hey, do you want to see the procession!’” While narrating his town’s tradition, he notes that his favorite activity is undoubtedly the marimba concerts. “After the celebration, it’s very joyful with all the concerts and marimba... there are people in the town who are in charge of raising the funds to be able to have the concert and it really brings people a lot of joy.”
This year, the San Miguel feria will once again look very different from the pre-pandemic celebrations. “There are normally foreigners who come to participate in this tradition,” he says, “and we’ve been missing them for two years now.” For the 2021 feria, a small select group will organize and host mass services, which town members can attend virtually. Throughout the week, celebrations will primarily take place within smaller family units, rather than in large, congested gatherings. Eduardo looks forward to next year, hoping that the town will be able to organize, celebrate, and share their culture in the robust way that they have been doing for hundreds of years. For now, he and other members of the San Miguel cooperative continue to offer opportunities for travelers to get to know their communities in small-scale settings where health and safety are a priority for visitors as well as the receiving communities. One of those opportunities is a De La Gente Immersion Trip that allows participants to engage with coffee-growing communities and hear first-hand from producers about their challenges, successes, and goals within the coffee industry.
