Culture
Each of the major communities of the municipalities have their annual festival, set on the day of their patron saint. These include Pinal de Amoles (March 16–19), San Pedro Escanela, (May 1–5 and June 27–29), Ahuacatlán de Guadalupe (December 12), Santa Águeda (February 5), Bucareli (October 4 and December 8) and Escaelilla (June 13). Municipality wide there is the annual “La Molienda” from the beginning of February to the middle of March. This is related to the harvest of sugar cane although nowadays, there are fewer fields that grow this crop. The tradition includes cutting a cane to extract its juice in a press or mill. With the juice boiled down and the remaining dry cane used as fuel or animal feed. The boiled sugar cane juice is made into a syrup, which is then molded into small pillars called piloncillos.
Pinal de Amoles, like the rest of the Sierra Gorda, has been classified as the far west of the La Huasteca region. Huapango is a tradition in the Sierra Gorda and the people here identify themselves as part of the La Huasteca region, according to Jorge Enrique Resendíz Martínez, municipal president of Pinal de Amoles. This Huasteca influence is best seen in the tradition of Huapango music and dance, which is strongest here and in other Sierra Gorda communities such as Xichú and San Joaquín, where there are festivals dedicated to it. Huapango musicians from Pinal de Amoles are noted for their ability to improvise melodies and lyrics, but the main event for the year is the Concurso Nacional de Bailes de Huapango held each year in the municipal seat in March.
2011 marked the twenty second annual event, which originally was called the Concuso Nacional de Baile de Huapango y Reunión de las Huastecas. In this year, there were more than 400 couples registered in the competition with about 10,000 spectators in attendance, as the event grows each year. The event is held at the Casa de la Cultura (House of Culture), with three categories: children’s (under 12), youth (13 to 17) and adult (over 18). Entrance fee is 100 pesos per couple. Various styles of Huapango dance is presented including hidalguense, poblano, potosino, queretano, tamaulipeco and veracruzano, named after the states of Hidalgo, Puebla, San Luis Potosí, Querétaro, Tamaulipas and Veracruz respectively. It begins on Friday night and concludes on Sunday night. The children’s category is exposition only, with the other two having eliminations. The judging panels are made up of representatives of these states, who qualify technique, dress, projection, coordination and precision. The winners of various categories received between four and six thousand pesos, with the overall winner for each age group receiving between 14,000 and 20,000 pesos. Those couples who have won the grand prize in previous years are not allowed to participate again together. For 2011, the groups presenting live music for the event included Los Hidalguenses, Reales de Colima and Huapangueros Differentes. The event is concurrent with the Fiestas Patronales or feast day of the patron saint of the municipality. This event in 2011 featured popular rock groups such as Pambo Pop-rock and Pega Pega de Emilio Reyna.
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