Carnaval de Huejotzingo

When most people think of Carnaval, they imagine the samba parades of Rio de Janeiro or the gilded masks of Venice, not gunpowder and musket fire. Yet each February in Huejotzingo, a small town in Puebla, the streets erupt with explosions as dancers reenact the 1862 Battle of Puebla. What began as a Spanish colonial festival evolved after Mexico’s victory over French troops into a fusion of Indigenous identity, colonial history, and national pride.