NOCHE DE RABANOS

Yesterday, around noon, we went to the zocalo to observe the set up of the “Noche de Rabanos”, “The Night of the Radish”. This was the 112th celebration that always takes place on December 23rd in the zocalo only in the city of Oaxaca.


Special large radishes are grown only for this celebration. They are an elongated variety up to 2 feet in length and weighing as much as 10 pounds. The radishes are carved and used to create religious or cultural figures and scenes. Many are quite intricate and ornate. Some are just whimsical. Besides the radish art, there are two other categories of folk art, flor inmortal (dried flowers) and totomoxtle (corn husks). The artisans compete in the three categories for cash prizes. Thousands come to see the crafts displays.

The radish is not native to Oaxaca. The Spanish brought them to Oaxaca in the 16th century and the Spanish monks encouraged the locals to grow them. In order to promote the new vegetable, one of the monks suggested carving radishes to create eye-catching displays in the market. Centuries later in 1897, Oaxaca Mayor, Francisco Vasconcelos Flores, held the first Noche de Rábanos in the zócalo. The event has been held every year since.

We walked around and took some pictures. It was crowded but manageable. We also spent some time sitting on a park bench enjoying “people watching”. There were four people sitting next to us: abuela, hija, nieta, and bisnieta (grandmother, daughter, granddaughter and great granddaughter). Sam asked the little girl her age. And then the conversation began…all in Spanish. We learned that the abuela’s hermana lives in Detroit and has been there for about 50 years. It was a very interesting and pleasant interaction…a priceless moment.

We returned home, had some lunch, and Bob took a nap. Around 5:30 p.m., we decided to return to the zocalo to see what was happening. WOW…the crowds were unbelievable. You couldn’t even get close to the displays. We were certainly happy that we went early in the day to take some pictures.

We had already decided that we would have dinner at Che. It is an Argentinian restaurant. We arrived around 6:30 p.m., and we were the first ones there. They only had a few tables available because they had two big parties with reservations. They told us this is one of their busiest nights because of Noche de Rabonos. About 10 minutes later, the rest of the tables were full. We had a nice dinner…finally some good beef.

On our stroll back home, we passed the local barber. For the past couple of weeks every time we pass by, the barber always waves and greets us. Well, tonight he once again greeted us and asked Bob if he wanted his hair cut. Bob was a little skeptical but agreed. He only wanted a trim around the ears. The barber first used thinning sheers…you know Bob…he has a thick head of hair (thank goodness). The he used regular scissors; then the electric sheers came out to do the trimming around the ears and neck. The last tool was the barber’s long razor. Twenty minutes later Bob had a great hair cut and only paid 50 pesos…$4.05. What a bargain!