Christmas Tradition

Every December 24 the people in a small village south of Oaxaca carry out an unusual tradition. The men go up into the mountains, cut off tops of shaggy pine trees, and bring them down to the village. There, an area has been prepared with holes to hold the trees while they are decorated with balloons. Then young men carry the trees through the town's streets, following a band, walking along the highway where traffic is stopped for as long as it takes. The procession ends up at the church where some of the trees are brought into the church. The remaining trees are taken where a fiesta is held for the rest of the day, and into the night. (By the way, after the tops of the trees are cut off, new tops are generated at a rapid rate.)