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Click the button at the bottom left of the photo to see a slideshow of the Encuentro de Jaraneros. The music is "La Bamba" a traditional Veracruzana song made popular in the US by Ritchie Valens in 1959.

A big part of the Candelaria festival for the past few decades has been the musical Encuentro de Jaraneros in Plaza Doña Marta, a small beautiful bench-lined square near the center of town. The name jaraneros comes from the small 8-string guitar, or jarana, that is the common instrument to all Son Jarocho groups.

The encuentro is probably the best organized event of La Candelaria as well as one of the most popular. This year, with scores of groups and hundreds of artists wanting to participate, every group’s turn was limited to a quarter of an hour which many were not happy with. As one group member said, “This music is about spontaneity, how can you be spontaneous in 15 minutes?”